Tips to Keep Your Teen Healthy on Grad Night

Tips to Keep Your Teen Healthy On Grad Night

The Graduation night for a teen is a time of fun and celebration. Unfortunately, many of these happy occasions are filled with parties and underage drinking, and the results can often be deadly. It’s imperative that parents educate their children by talking to them about the dangers of drinking and driving. You can also help them utilize other steps to prevent a DUI from ever happening to them and their friends. The following tips will ensure your teens safety and make their experience a healthy and happy one.

Implement A Plan

You can start by implementing a plan for the evening and discussing the consequences if they deviate from it. Don’t be afraid to check on their safety throughout the night. Knowing their whereabouts and who they are going to be with is necessary in keeping them out of harm’s way. Schedule a curfew and let them know the punishment involved if they are not home by a specific time. You can tell your teen to phone you for a ride no matter the time instead of getting in the car with a friend who has been drinking. When teens see that there is an alternative to their errant behavior, they will take the option to call you for a safe ride home rather than take the dangerous avenue.

Talk To Your Teens

An open and frank discussion on the dangers of drinking and driving is one of the first steps every parent should take. They need to know the repercussions if they get caught and are convicted of this serious crime. Not only would they be responsible for paying exorbitant fines and costs related to the accident, they may also cause an injury or fatality due to their actions. In addition, your teen could jeopardize the rest of their life by not being able to get into college or have to do jail time for their criminal actions of a DUI. Parents can find information online, like at sites such as www.pennsylvania-dui-lawyer.com, for underage DUI consequences to share with their teen.

Work With The School

Parents can work with the school to ensure the safety of their teens. A series of questions should be asked to keep alcohol off the premises before and after the graduation celebration. The school should also have limitations on where the teens are permitted on-site, and supervision should be heightened. Parents can also work with the school by instating a pledge for teens to sign to promise to be safe and not to drink on graduation night.  Let teens know that by honoring this pledge, you will offer some form of ‘thanks’. This could be extending their curfew, helping them purchase an item they’ve had their eye on or even chipping in for their new car. The symbolism of the pledge will make teens think twice about cheating the pledge and losing any rewards attached.

Know The Hot Spots

Get involved by communicating openly with your teen. In order for them to feel comfortable enough to be able to chat, you want to sound like you care and not like you don’t trust them. Enlist the help of other parents and know the local hot spots where teens are likely to hang out. If your teen is late or trouble ensues, you know the places to check out first. This can also be of help to the other parents as you all bond together to keep all the teens safe.

Healthy Alternatives

Offer healthy alternatives for your teen and their friends. Instead of a party, you can offer to take a group of friends to the local amusement park for a day filled with rides, food and fun. You can also house a party in your home and invite the parents and siblings too. You can serve non-alcoholic beverages for parents and teens and hire a disc jockey for dancing. If any of your revelers have food allergies, make sure to ask what you should serve to avoid any emergency situations.

Your teen’s graduation is a celebratory occasion, and you want the memories this special day invokes to be filled with fun and laughter. Too many times, graduation night tragically ends for many teens. Keeping your teen safe from a DUI is imperative, and you can do this through open communication and by offering them safe and fun alternatives.

Having a nephew not far from graduating high school inspires Nadine Swayne to offer this article. Attorney Steven Kellis is nationally certified in field sobriety testing and his legal expertise can be found at www.pennsylvania-dui-lawyer.com to answer your questions regarding graduation night and underage DUI. Mr. Kellis has 20 years of jury trial experience to help you and your teen if they are facing DUI charges.

Photo credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/amslerpix/8550384226/