The Buzz L O H On O C L A d n a s n Tee by Sandra Gordon
W
hen Kerri Zane gave her then 16-year-old daughter, Rachelle, the go-ahead for a party at their house, Zane made it clear: no alcohol. Still, one underage teen found a loophole. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had stopped at a liquor store and had been able to give money to an adult passing by who agreed to buy beer for him. After guzzling it in Zane’s neighborhood gazebo, the teen became so intoxicated he had to be rushed to the hospital before he arrived at the party. Zane learned about the incident from the boy’s father, who called her in a rage, accusing her of supplying his son with the alcohol that nearly killed him. “It scared all of us,” says the single mom of two. The boy had never even made it into her house. Still, she was the one implicated, and therefore was shaken. “I felt terrible that this kid almost died from alcohol poisoning,” she says. Zane hasn’t had a party at her house since. She doesn’t like the risk factor. 28 Atlanta Parent May 2013
The Sober Reality You can’t blame her. While 21 may be the legal drinking age, the law hardly deters teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among young people in the U.S., more than tobacco and illicit drugs. In fact, 12 to 20 year olds drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed. And, they tend to imbibe through bingeing – multiple drinks in a short period of time. Teens who drink are more likely to have problems in school, be involved in alcohol-related car crashes, participate in unwanted, unplanned and unprotected sex and abuse other drugs. And, there are other long-term effects. The teenage brain is still developing, and teens who drink are five times likelier to abuse later. “Consuming alcohol at such a vulnerable time can permanently alter the brain’s circuitry,” says Dr. Joseph Shrand, a psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School and the Medical Director of CASTLE (Clean and Sober Teens Living Empowered) at High Point Treatment Center in Brockton, Mass. Moreover, teens are temporarily hard-wired for risk. “In adolescents, the amygdala – the part of the brain that’s responsible for impulses, feelings, memories, pleasure and addiction – is more in control than the prefrontal cortex, the part that’s responsible for thinking, problem solving and anticipating the consequences of decisions,” Shrand says. “With a brain like that, it makes perfect sense that a teen would say, ‘Wow, I think I’ll just drink because feeling drunk feels great.” Still, because alcohol is easily accessible and drinking is legal after age 21, it doesn’t seem so bad. Some parents may even feel that way. “My kids have gone to parties at friend’s homes in which the parents are drinking with along with everyone,” says Carol Barash, a mom of two atlantaparent.com