Substance Abuse
“America’s insatiable demand for illegal drugs
fuels the drug trade.”
Hillary Clinton- March 25, 2009
Two decades of research leave no doubt that children raised in nurturing families most often do not engage in alcohol or drugs.
The research also shows that brains of children raised in fear-based families show neurons missing by the millions. The consequence of an early stress-filled environment hard wires fear (anxiety) and sadness (depression) into the primitive limbic brain, center of fight or flight and emotional regulation. Adolescence includes enough emotional turmoil, body changes, and self-doubt to rock any child’s boat. But, for the fear-based teen, even everyday stress can trigger his sense of helplessness and loneliness felt so early in his life. This youngster is ripe for the soothing power of mind altering addictions. With the unraveling of our families, millions of our children fall prey to addictions. As a result, our country pays for the consequences.
National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIV: Teens and Parents
Compared to teens who have not seen their parent(s) drunk, those who have are more than twice as likely to get drunk in a typical month, and three times likelier to use marijuana and smoke cigarettes, according to the National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIV: Teens and Parents, the 14th annual back-to-school survey conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
The CASA survey found that 51 percent of 17-year olds have seen one or both of their parents drunk and 34 percent of 12 to 17 year olds have seen one or both of their parents drunk.
Teen drinking behavior is strongly associated with how teens believe their fathers feel about their drinking. Compared to teens who believe their father is against their drinking, teens who believe their father is okay with their drinking are two and a half times likelier to get drunk in a typical month.
The survey found that five percent of 12- to 15-year old girls and nine percent of 12- to 15-year old boys say their fathers are okay with their drinking. Thirteen percent of 16- and 17-year old girls and 20 percent of 16- and 17-year old boys say their fathers are okay with their drinking.
“Some Moms’ and Dads’ behavior and attitudes make them parent enablers—parents who send their 12- to 17-year olds a message that it’s okay to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs like marijuana,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s chairman and founder and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. “Teens’ behavior is strongly associated with their parents’ behavior and expectations, so parents who expect their children to drink and use drugs will have children who drink and use drugs.”
Publisher
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)
Columbia University
Publication Year: 2009
“If we are serious about solving the drug problem, nurturing the promise of our children must be our starting point.”
Morgan Rose
