How to Educate Teens About Alcohol Poisoning

The teen years can be a rough period of time for both teenagers and their parents. Even more difficult than surviving the teen years is resisting the peer pressure for your teen to adapt to a fast lifestyle of drinking alcohol and partying. Educate your teen about drinking and alcohol poisoning before they face peer pressure. Here's how to educate teens about alcohol poisoning.

Instructions

1. Make sure the teens are listening. All of the facts in the world are useless if your teen tunes you out. Before you begin educating teens about alcohol poisoning, be sure they are receptive to the conversation.

2. Speak from experience. Someone with personal experience is far more credible in the eyes of a teen than someone who has pulled the facts from books and reports. Have a child who has suffered from alcohol poisoning or parents of an alcohol-poisoned child speak to teens about the problem.

3. Visualize. Teens are technologically advanced. The Internet, cell phones and iPods have catapulted teens into the age of advanced technology. Include the very same technology when talking to teens about alcohol poisoning. Whether you use an Internet video or computer generated graphics, it relays the information in a language they know and understand.

4. Discuss how quickly the body absorbs alcohol and the short term affects. It takes about five to 10 minutes to feel its effects and they can last for hours. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause a reduction in short-term memory and an increase in suicidal thoughts, sexual assaults and auto accidents.

5. Explain the long term effects of alcohol poisoning. Prolonged use of alcohol physically damages the brain, liver and pancreas. It's also responsible for the increase in several types of cancers such as pancreatic cancer.