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Talking to Your Student About Alcohol
1. Educate Yourself
The websites listed below are informative and interesting. They also provide useful tips for discussing college drinking with your student. According to the research, first-year students are most at risk for developing problems that can arise from social pressure and experimentation with new behaviors.
•College Drinking: Changing the Culture
•For Parents of College-Bound Students
•Parents, You're Not Done Yet.
2. Talk with Your Student Before Coming to Campus
A study conducted by Boise State University (2001) indicated that first-year college students had "lower drinking tendencies (and fewer) drinking consequences" when their parents "were educated about binge drinking and how to convey information to their teens, and then encouraged to talk with their teens just before" their students started college. So, contrary to what you may think, parents can have considerable influence on students and students respect and listen to their parents more often than we give them credit for.
Here are some tips for having a conversation with your student:
• Clearly state your expectations with regard to alcohol.
• Expand the conversation to include personal safety, sexual activity and drugs other than alcohol.
• Make it your family's goal to talk openly and honestly about these topics.
• Listen to your student in a non-judgmental manner.
• Let him or her know that at USF St. Petersburg, most students party responsibly, and there are many students who choose not to drink at all.
• Assert your expectation that he or she will follow the University's rules and regulations and utilize its safety resources.
• Be understanding of the fact that transition to college can be a difficult time, and students will be trying to fit in with new friends.
• Remember that the inappropriate use of alcohol and other drugs often is a sign of deeper issues; don't be afraid to ask your student what might be going on.
• Stress to your student the importance of also looking out for others and knowing when to get help.
3. Keep the Conversations Going
Call and email your student frequently, especially during the first six weeks of the semester. Ask often about academics, roommates, your student's social/leisure time activities, and drinking and social behaviors of roommates and friends. Visit him or her on Family Weekend (held during the fall semester each year) or on other occasions. Ask to meet his or her friends.
4. Contact Us If You Need Help Dealing with a Situation
If you are concerned about your student with regard to alcohol (e.g., experiences academic problems, reluctant to speak with you or return your calls, resists talking about friends and social time), please feel free to contact any of the on-campus support resources listed below.
Remember!
Talk with your student about alcohol. While parents may not be able to actively monitor students away from home, they can be available to talk and listen, and that is just as important. It can do more than help shape lives—it can save lives.
Taken from http ://www.terpparent.umd.edu/educating_parents/talking_to_your_student_about_alcohol
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