Many parents experience anxiety when their teen first gets his or her driver's license. What many of these parents don't realize is that they should be very anxious indeed. As a parent of an underage driver, you could be liable for mistakes your teen makes while driving. If your teen is in an accident where someone in his car (or another car) is injured, you might discover that you are at great financial risk, especially if you had previous knowledge that your teen has an issue with alcohol or drugs and did not take steps to intervene in your teen's behavior.

Read more about parental liability for underage driving.

Labels: drunk driving, dui, teenage_drinking, underage drinking

Most teenagers get their first alcoholic drink from their mother or father, according to a new study by the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota.

Researchers surveyed 4000 children ages 12 to 14 years old in Chicago between the years 2002 and 2005. About 17% of the 12-year-olds had consumed a full glass of alcoholic beverage within the past year – and a third reported that their parents had given them their drinks.

Author Kelli Komro said that the researchers suspected that teens first discover beer or hard liquor with friends, but that assumption proved false.

"It's important to educate parents about the consequences of the early onset of drinking, and to prevent them from being a source of alcohol for their children," she said.

This study appears in the April issue of Preventive Medicine.

If you, your teen, or someone you know is struggling with teen alcohol or drug abuse, there are lots of great resources online. Learn about teen alcohol drug abuse at drugrehabtreatment.com and ways for parents to help their teen with drug and alcohol abuse at byparents-forparents.com.

Labels: alcohol, parents, teenage_drinking

Seven years ago, New Jersey adopted a law that allows municipalities to enact ordinances about teenage drinking on private property. A handful of Middlesex County communities are utilizing the law to enforce punishments on teens caught drinking on private property.

"In East Brunswick's case, its ordinance punishes teenagers caught drinking on private property with license suspensions of six months, plus fines of $250 for a first offense and $350 thereafter."

These Middlesex communities hope the new ordinances will help curb teenage drinking. Adolescents who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become dependant on alcohol. Read more at thnt.com.

Labels: ordinances, punishment, teenage_drinking