Let’s Talk About the Elephant in the Room…

Alcohol abuse in minors can be a scary topic to talk about, but in this day and age, it’s a very common activity that takes place. Strong influences, such as peer pressure, stress, and social media can immensely impact how often a child will drink. As a parent, you only want what’s best for your child, and as a young adolescent, you only want to cope knowing the best way you know how.

There are many reasons why a teenager would want to drink alcohol, despite it being an illegal activity. During this stage of life, puberty has already taken place, and teenagers are developing their own sense of identity. Even though adolescents obtain some concept of who they are based on their family relations and how safe they feel at home, they mainly and emotionally depend on their peers once they reach the age of 11 to 14 years old (Broderick & Blewitt, 2024). Adolescents can relate to their peers if they share a bond over their loneliness and the stressful events that may have happened in their past or present moment. Because of this, teenagers tend to compare themselves to others at school and they try to develop their own sense of identity by matching how others behave, as well. It has been found that teenage anxiety and depression rates have grown within the past two decades because of social media use. Teenagers can compare how well their lives are with other peers online. Cyberbullying tends to take place, too, after teens share statuses or pictures about themselves online. All these factors, along with the stresses of submitting homework on time, partaking in extracurricular activities after school, handling family responsibilities, partying with friends, and more can also impact the chances of teenagers partaking in alcohol use.

Alcohol is the most common drug used by people under the age of 21 in the United States (Centers for Disease, 2025). With this in mind, it is important to understand how you can prevent this type of activity from happening. Whether you are a parent or a teen, you have a responsibility to understand how this can be helped.