Parenting Newsletter Aspen Education Group

In this issue:

April Is Alcohol Awareness Month: How Much Is Your Teen Drinking?

Built For Adventure: Why Teens Take Risks

Thank you for subscribing

We hope you find the articles and tips helpful. We are always open to your suggestions. If you have a topic you would like to learn more about, please let us know!

Unsubscribe Links

Call (866) 845-1391 to learn more about Aspen's programs for children, teens, and young adults.

Spring is a great time to enroll your teen in a wilderness program!

Phoenix Outdoor is a licensed wilderness-based substance abuse and chemical dependency treatment program for teenagers ages 13-17.

SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic wilderness program that uses the outdoors as an alternative to conventional treatment environments, while engaging students using traditional therapeutic methods.

Wilderness Programs for Teens

Four Circles Recovery Center for older teens and young adults ages 18-28 is an innovative addictions, substance abuse and co-occuring mental health disorders treatment program that combines a traditional counseling setting with extensive wilderness experiences.

Adirondack Leadership Expeditions is a character development wilderness program that promotes personal growth through focused experiences. The forested, mountain setting removes urban distractions to allow students room to gain insight into their core values and accept responsibility for their choices.

Turn-About Ranch is a place where old-time values such as hard work, honesty, respect, teamwork and accountability are the standard. Teens thrive in the unique environment of this spirited working cow-and-horse ranch. The objective of Turn-About Ranch is to provide a hard-hitting, high-impact therapeutic program that will remold and turn around the lives of rebellious teens.

April Is Alcohol Awareness Month:
How Much Is Your Teen Drinking?

For most people, April conjures images of spring flowers, the Easter bunny and April Fool’s pranks. But for parents of teenagers, this month marks another important event: Alcohol Awareness Month.

It’s hard for parents to admit it, but most teens start drinking much earlier (and more often) than parents realize. Teen drinking is on the rise, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Data gathered between 2006 and 2008 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health provided the following insights into underage drinking trends:

Roughly one-quarter (27.6 percent) of American youth between ages 12 and 20 said that they drank alcohol in the past month.
Underage drinking rates in the past month were as high as 40 percent in some states, including North Dakota and Vermont, compared to 13.7 percent in Utah.
About 8.6 percent of teenage drinkers said they purchased their own alcohol the last time they drank.

The Dangers of Teen Alcohol Use

Because of its availability, affordability and social acceptance, alcohol has long been teens’ primary drug of choice. Research has shown that young people who start drinking before age 15 are six times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who start drinking at 21 or older.

The risks of teen drinking have been frequently studied and well-documented. Teen alcohol use has been linked with car accidents, early sexual activity and unsafe sex, academic underachievement, alcoholism and criminal behavior. A recent study in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors shows that heavy drinking during adolescence can cause brain damage, which may negatively affect thinking and memory skills.

Teens who abuse alcohol are also more likely than their non-drinking peers to have behavioral problems, such as attention and conduct problems, or symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to a study in the online journalChild and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. Although mental health problems frequently coincide with alcohol abuse, it is unclear whether drinking leads to psychological issues or teens use alcohol to self-medicate problems that already exist.

Learn more about teenage drinking>>

Built For Adventure: Why Teens Take Risks

Ever feel like your teenager is just asking for trouble? That’s because they probably are, according to new research by British scientists.

During adolescence, kids who were once sweet and mild-mannered may start experimenting with drugs and alcohol, driving dangerously, having unprotected sex, smoking, spending too much time on the Internet, and engaging in other risky behaviors. They do so because their brains are programmed for thrill-seeking, researchers have found.

The study, which was published in the journal Cognitive Development, was based on 86 males between the ages of 9 and 35, who played video games and expressed their level of satisfaction with the results. Adolescents were particularly pleased when they took big risks and encountered a “lucky escape” situation. Fourteen-year-olds took the most risks.

Although many parents feel that their teen has poor judgment, the study suggested that most teens are skilled at weighing the pros and cons of their decisions – they just choose to take risks anyway. Adolescents are governed by their intense emotions, but haven’t yet developed the skills or cognitive control to manage those emotions.

Learn more about why teenagers take risks>>

Internet Use Linked To Teen Depression

For an increasing number of people, the Internet is becoming more of a social outlet than the real world. Online gaming, shopping, chatting and social networking sites such as Facebook are slowly replacing in-person interactions with others – often to the detriment of one's health.

A new study by psychologists at Leeds University in England found that people who spend a lot of time online are more likely to show signs of depression.

"This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction," the study's lead author, Catriona Morrison, wrote in the journal Psychopathology. "This type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health."

Moderate to severe depression is more likely to occur among people who are addicted to the Internet. Internet addiction is defined as excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. Internet addicts spend more time browsing pornographic websites, online gaming sites and online communities, and are more likely to give up actual socializing to spend time online.