If parents think that loosening the reins and relaxing rules about drinking as their teens get older is a good idea, they may be wrong, warns brain scientists and parenting experts.
According to experts, the rules that parents set and their way of addressing the issue to drinking does impact kids’ behavior.
Parents are now being informed that there is a particularly toxic effect of alcohol on brain cells of adolescents since their brains are developing at the time, according to Susan Tapert, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
Children and their brains are not mature in terms of critical thinking, judgement and memory. These faculties reach maturation only when one reaches their 20s, and alcohol consumption may interfere with growth and proper development of these faculties.
According to the finding arrived at by Dr. Tapert’s research, the white matter of the brains of adolescents who engage in binge drinking (defined as five or more drinks at a time for boys, or four or more drinks at a time for girls), show some amount of abnormality. The white matter is the fibers that interconnect the different parts of the brain.
And parents may think that their teens will drink anyway, but it is found that parents’ rules and a ‘no alcohol’ message is a good deterrent and has a big hand in shaping teen’s behavior.
