Drinking and Driving - Keeping Your Family and Others Safe

Lets face it, drinking is a common activity among human beings of all ages and cultures. We all have a few drinks here and there but what do we do to keep our teens safe? No matter how many public service announcements are on TV or how many times we talk to our kids about the dangers of drinking and driving we are still faced with a terrible and sometimes tragic situation... but there are tools we can use to keep better tabs on our kids and to protect them.
The first thing I would suggest to any parent is to be who you want THEM to be. Children learn by example therefore bringing your best person forward is the most important tool -- they WILL mimic you and learn from your life. The second suggestion is to always listen and speak to them with honesty and respect. If you sit there and lecture, children tend to blot it out 'bla bla bla' and wait for the ending comments that signal it's safe to bolt, but if you turn your lecture into a friendly conversation where your child can express his/her thoughts back and forward with you, not only are you getting them to listen, but you are getting insight into who they are as a person and the inner workings of their mind.
Boundaries are not something I really believe in when it comes to giving them privacy. I've heard people say that if you don't allow your child to have 'secrets' that they will loose trust in you. In my opinion that is ridiculous. You should definitely give your child a 'sense' of privacy but the only way you will truly know what they are doing is by checking in on them when they are not looking. Listen to what they talk about with their friends. Get to know their friends. Read their diaries, notes, letters, journals, e-mails, blogs, web pages and do it often.
If you run into something you don't like keep your calm and find a way to work it into a conversation so that they don't know you actually went through their things. Why? Because this opens the door for you to give them the advise that pertains to their life and current situation.
If you find that your child has been drinking and hiding it from you ALWAYS talk to them about it. Make sure they know that they can CALL you from anywhere and that you will get them home safely and that they will not be punished for doing the right thing. No, I'm not endorsing underage drinking nor telling you to allow it, but remember that they will do it and if you are lucky enough to get the call for a ride home, don't make them regret asking for your help or they may never ask again.
I also suggest purchasing an alcohol detector. They usually cost around $50.00 and it's a great tool to have on hand. I love mine and we use it for all sorts of things. Just last night (New Years Eve 2007-2008) everyone checked their levels before getting in their cars and believe me, sometimes only a couple of drinks push you over the legal limit. This way, you can avoid a DUI or even worse - An accident.

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