I read an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune and I wondered if anyone had come across this issue. It seems parents are testing their teens with a Breathalyzer when they come home from being out with friends. I have to say I'm all for it if you have to confirm what you feel is happening. What I didn't know was "High schools have been using Breathalyzer testing for some time. Some schools make blowing into a Breathalyzer a prerequisite for students attending dances."
Really? I haven't seen this and would love to know more about it. If you've heard of this or your teen's school does it, can you share your experiences? For all others: What do you think? Leave a comment.
Poll: Would you give your teen a Breathalyzer test if you felt he was drinking?
The school my teens attend administers breathalyzers before every school event including football games. However, my teens have told me that the kids who drink just go into the game through the “visitors” side (where no breathalyzers are administered). I do think that breathalyzing teens has gone too far though – for instance, all 8th graders were breathalyzed before their shcool dance. PARENTS brought their children to this dance, as 8th graders cannot drive. As a parent, I have not breathalyzed any of my teens, but I would if suspected they had been drinking. I will say that if I ever got to the point where I felt the need to buy a breathalyzer for my teen, I’d put tougher restrictions on them because this is a trust issue.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, you can’t depend upon other parents to be ”vigilant” on underage drinking. Lately, parents are actually buying the alcohol for those kids. So I don’t feel bad should a school administation uses such tests. What ever happen to clean fun. Since when does alcohol need to be a part of any celebration? I’m sad for anyone who decides to put alcohol into the hands of a minor. That’s just a recipe for disaster.
At my daughter’s school there is drug testing. Parents and their child may sign a contract allowing the child to be randomly drug tested during the school year. The test is done by an outside organization and the results are not shared with the school, only the parents of the child.
This gives students a reason to say no when offered drugs by a peer. But parents may opt out and not sign it. We also sign a contract stating that our home will be adult beverage and drug free when our child’s friends are in our home and that we will make sure that they do not drink or do drugs in our home. The families that sign it have their names posted on the school website for other parents to know that our home is free of illegal substances for teens.
As for the breathalyzer, I have not heard about that. I would have my child do it if she gave me reason to think she has been drinking…especially if she or her friends had also been driving.
I am not an American and I don’t live in the U.S.A. so you may choose to disregard what I say. I think you are approaching the problem from the wrong end. I am in favour of teaching teenagers to drink in a responsible way, in the same way as we teach responsibility about sex and money. My twins are 13 and are allowed a small amount of alcohol, at home, on special occasions. In this way I believe I am teaching them what intoxication feels like in a safe environment. I don’t believe I am raising ‘children’, I believe I am raising people who will become adults (18 in my country, so only 5 years away). My twins need to learn about alcohol for themselves, and my responsibility is to make sure they do it safely.
I would and have breathalyzed my son. He was actually surprised at the result because he didn’t realize how “little” it takes to become impaired.
I look at our breathalyzer as a deterrent. He can say: My crazy mom randomly tests me when I come home and I don’t want to lose use of the car or be grounded.
Teenage drinking is a huge problem. From talking to my kids it is apparent that if they don’t have a good reason to say no, they will just go along with everyone else. They say everyone does it and there is nothing wrong with it.
I personally don’t drink and it really disturbs me to know that my kids do. You can’t lock them in the house until they become adults and can’t watch them every minute of the day. If they have a mind to drink, they will find a way to do it. And the more you restrict them, the harder they will work to find a way around the restrictions.
All you can do is keep the lines of communication open, let them know you don’t approve but will be there if they need you, and pray they will survive their teen years relatively unscathed.
If anyone has any other strategies to prevent teen drinking, I would love to hear them.
I’m an 18 year old living in a small town in east Texas. Now, I do understand the parents concern about their child’s well being, but make a breathalyzer test mandatory at school and that’s not necessary if you believe that your kid is drinking than do something about it, don’t leave it up to the school to take care of it.
Schools should be able to do random checks to help keep kids honest. By the way, ‘random’ does not mean being ’singled out’. Just like going through airport security, sometimes I get inconvenienced by the additional search and sometimes I don’t. If you’re inocent it should be no big deal.
We believe that parents should be using home drug tests for their teens. We looked into the Myteensavers drug tests and were suprised to read how much teens support this. I feel like I should take the test also, to prove to my children that we are a drug free family.