December has been designated National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Click here to read safety tips.

It isn’t always easy to eat dinner together as a family. Research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) has found that when they asked teens and parents why they didn’t eat dinner more often together, the two groups of people blamed each other.

The number one response for teens? Parents were either at work or had a late work shift.

The number one response for parents? Everybody is busy and has different activities.

Read more and download The Family Meals Toolkit here… http://www.parentfurther.com/familydinners

Texting while driving is considered the most distracting driver behavior, increasing crash risk by 2,300 percent. Yet it is also one of the most difficult behaviors to curtail, especially among young, first-time drivers.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1080176_10-tips-to-help-your-teen-stop-texting-and-driving

From early adolescence through their mid-20s, a teen’s brain develops somewhat unevenly, from back to front. This may help explain their endearingly quirky behavior but also makes them prone to risk-taking. For the parents guide, click here http://teenbrain.drugfree.org/science/index.html

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.

Teens face peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol. Have a cigarette; it’s just one. Want a beer? Influences on what teens do often come from their friends, but parents have big roles. Researchers interviewed high school freshmen and sophomores, asking them about their substance use, their friends – and their parents’ discipline behaviors and knowledge of their social lives.

Michael Cleveland at the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University grouped students based on their friends, to find:

“Substance abuse was lowest for those teens whose parents were knowledgeable and consistent, and who also had friends whose parents were knowledgeable and consistent.”

Parents should be aware of their teens’ whereabouts. They also can keep track of who their teens are friends with, and get to know the parents of those other kids.  

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last revised: July 23, 2012

Alcohol is the drug of choice for teens. Having conversations about alcohol as early as practical and as often as possible is one of the most important steps to keeping a child alcohol free.

Find tools at http://speaknowcolorado.org