Parenting Pointers - 3 Myths about Teenage Drinking from Screenager’s Dr. Delaney Ruston

Several million teens report binge drinking at least once in the past month, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2022’s survey. April is Alcohol Awareness Month. 

Screenagers filmmaker Dr. Delaney Ruston interviewed dozens of teens and their parents when making Screenagers Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age. 

One thing research has revealed is that teens are getting fed up with images of alcohol use on social media like never before. 

“When talking with parents,” Dr. Ruston says, “they often share their ideas of how to prevent their teens from overdrinking. Surprisingly, their ideas don’t always add up.” 

The first myth is that in European and South American countries like France and Brazil, where the legal drinking age is 18, and the culture is more permissive, teens learn to drink more responsibly. This is not true. The rate of binge drinking among 15-year-olds is three times greater in France than in the United States.

Watch this clip from Screenagers Under The Influence about the 3 Myths

The second myth is that if youth start drinking in high school, they will have a safer experience drinking in college. This is also not true. According to Joseph Labrie, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University, “The gross data says that the more you drink in high school, the more likely you are to increase your drinking in college and the more likely you are to have negative consequences.”

And the third myth is that if teens are drinking, it is safe for them to drink at home. This is false. Sharon Levy, MD. Director of the Adolescent Substance Use & Addiction Program and professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, says, “When you put teens together, allowing them to use substances in the house, you can predict that they're going to be binge drinking. And when kids are binge drinking, it's very hard to keep them safe.”

The best way to keep kids safe when it comes to alcohol is to have open conversations with them about the consequences and dangers. 

“Kids are better equipped to make smart choices when they know what they are or not choosing,” Dr. Ruston says. “Having a dialogue in addition to rules gives kids autonomy in their choices, making them less impulsive when it comes to decisions.”