Parent Report

“Every parent has to know that their kid drinks because it’s that simple. Most teenagers drink,“ says 16 year old Brian. Maybe parents should know, but teens say parents have no idea how much kids smoke, drink, or take drugs. “You can’t talk to them about that because they don’t understand,” says Meredith.

In a nationwide survey conducted by Uhlich Children’s Home, teens gave parents below average grades on their efforts to stop teens from using alcohol, tobacco and drugs. The survey called the “Uhlich Report Card” was conducted through a self-executing mail interview in the first two months of 2000. Teenagers were asked to grade adults effectiveness in nineteen categories. Adults also received below average grades for running the government and getting rid of gangs.

Kids say adults efforts are ineffective because parents often use heavy discipline which backfires. Parents also punish kids for smoking, drinking and drugs while kids watch parents using the substances themselves. Experts remind parents that as a child matures, hard line rules without explanation are usually ineffective. Teens need to understand the reasons for their family’s values and why certain behavior is inappropriate.

 What Parents Should Know

Kids say when it comes to drinking, smoking and doing drugs, most parents model bad behavior. The Uhlich Children’s Home asked kids about parents efforts to stop drinking, smoking and drug use. Here’s what the kids had to say:

• “ With the smoking and drinking, most adults already do that, and it’s setting a bad example for us, so I don’t see how anybody could give them a good grade.”
• “I see adults smoking. I see adults drinking. I see adults with drugs and in gangs, everyday. So what are they talking about.”
• “They tell you not to do drugs, but they still promote it on TV and in advertisements.”
• “They have to cut out the cigarette advertising. They can’t sell out to the tobacco companies.”