There are very scary and alarming statistics out there regarding underaged drinking and impaired driving in teens. It comes up a lot during this time of year when celebrating happy occasions such as prom, graduation, sport championships, and other end-of-the-school year accomplishments that potentially have drinking involved. Studies show that drunk driving fatalities have increased by 33% since 2019 and every year, over 4,300 deaths are attributed to underage drinking.
On the flip side of scary and alarming, there is good news when it comes to new research that shows when parents and teens work together with open communication about underage drinking, teens are less likely to engage in impaired driving.
A free resource is available called the Power of Parents Handbook. It is an evidence-based program that has been studied in a five-year period and when used between parents and teens, teens are more likely to understand the consequences of underage drinking and impaired driving, both as a driver and a passenger. The Power of Parents Handbook equips parents with strategies to guide their teens away from dangerous behaviors.
Such topics it covers include learning about your own parenting style and using positive-style parenting, helping your teen navigate peer pressure, and ways to open the discussion about underage drinking and drug use.
The Power of Parents Handbook is available in digital format here and also available to download. The information and research in the handbook is provided by the organization MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
