Underage drinking remains a genuine issue even after high school graduation. Many people believe that high school graduation means the end of the underage drinking issue. However, given the number of college students that face negative consequences and even death from alcohol intoxication and binge drinking, the problem of underage drinking is a prevalent challenge.

Given this challenge, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a downloadable fact sheet for parents on how to talk about the dangers of underage drinking after high school. The goal of the fact sheet is to inform parents about the proven strategies of communication with young adults about the risks of underage drinking.

Young Adults Post-High School and the Dangers of Underage Drinking

From a statistical perspective, the dangers of underage drinking do not go away after high school. As a leader in providing integrated youth treatment services across Southern California, Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC) understands this danger well. Without question, too many young people enter our facilities after falling prey to alcohol use disorder.

Indeed, when young people leave home and go off to college, there is an increase in the danger level. Once they are on their own, young people tend to take chances and act more recklessly. Moreover, the collegiate environment increases the risk of adverse peer pressure.

However, the danger of alcohol use disorder is not relegated to collegiate environments. The danger is real for young people not in college as well. In the workforce, young adults have coworkers who might influence their choices around drinking. Hence, SAMHSA’s latest statistics about underage drinking in young people not in college are undeniable:

1. 44% of 18- to 22- year olds not attending college drink

1. 28% 18- to 22- year olds not attending college binge drink

1. 6% 18- to 22- year olds not attending college drink heavily

Moreover, since these statistics are based on self-reporting, there is no question that the real statistics are quite a bit higher. Given such dangers, parents need to talk to their young adults about the dangers of underage drinking.

Talking to Young Adults about Underage Drinking

When talking to young adults about the dangers of underage drinking, it is important to emphasize that drinking is not a legal activity until the age of twenty-one in the United States. Thus, young people should be willing to obey the law. If they insist still on drinking, as many do, they need to know the difference between having a drink and drinking to get intoxicated.

Indeed, excessive drinking to get drunk, including binge drinking by young adults, is the heart of the issue. Such drinking often leads to alcohol overdose and negative consequences. Also, the danger increases if a young adult is unemployed. Research shows that unemployed young adults are more likely to be daily drinkers when compared to their peers either in college or in the workforce.

Most importantly, parents possess a bigger influence on their young adults than they realize. If you are willing to talk about underage drinking, young adults will listen. If you can connect your talk with examples from personal experience, it helps even more. For example, “I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made or your uncle made. Despite our belief that it was no big deal, a price was paid when we drank at your same age.”

Indeed, personal experience means a lot and is a powerful tool. Also, being willing to listen to the fears and experiences of a young adult helps as well. From the perspective of TTC, clear and focused communication by parents about underage drinking is a big step in the right direction.