Washington, D.C. -- This is the time of year when even teens who have never tried a drop of alcohol may be tempted. Middle and high school proms and graduation are big events and there will be multiple parties to attend and a wide array of opportunities for alcohol to be served.
Assume that your child will be tempted to drink alcohol at the end of the school year, advises the Science Inside Alcohol Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). So start talking to your child about alcohol right now.
Instead of just asking your teen not to drink, the Science Inside Alcohol Project suggests explaining how alcohol can affect his or her body. Here are five ways alcohol can ruin prom night or graduation:
"A time of year that's supposed to be fun for parents and kids can turn ugly quickly," says Shirley Malcom, head of Education and Human Resources at AAAS. "Alcohol-free means a lot less drama."
The Science Inside Alcohol Project of AAAS is developing a series of lessons for middle school students, an electronic and print book for parents and other products to teach the science of alcohol. This project, which is part of the highly regarded "Science Inside" series by AAAS, is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Find us on our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Science-Inside-Alcohol/33451484521 .
The nonprofit AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society. For more information, go to http://www.aaas.org .