Connecticut has established 21 as the legal minimum age for drinking alcohol, purchasing tobacco products, cannabis use, and casino gambling. The 21 for a Reason Blog provides information about the risks of these activities for underage youth and discusses why the minimum age is 21 for a Reason.
For high school and college students, Thanksgiving and winter breaks are a chance to catch up with friends and enjoy some unstructured time after exams have been taken and final papers turned in. But all too often, alcohol plays a leading role in the festivities, and that comes with big risks. Here’s how you can pitch in to prevent underage drinking—and keep your community safe.
Drinking at college has long been thought of as a rite of passage. Students turn to alcohol expecting a good time and a relief from social anxiety, but far too often, this “campus experience” has lasting and even deadly consequences. That’s because college students are especially vulnerable to binge drinking—a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings one’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% or higher.
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. For parents and other members of the community, this is an opportunity to broach what can often be an uncomfortable or difficult topic with teenagers.
In Connecticut, 27% of high school students use electronic cigarettes—a product that many of them see as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. Unfortunately, many teens are still not aware that vapes contain more than just flavored liquid. The harmful chemicals in vapes include nicotine and caffeine, as well as many others which haven’t been adequately studied. The sooner you can help your child quit vaping, the less health risks they may face. To that end, it’s important to know what to look for if you suspect your teen might be vaping. Here are six possible signs that parents should be aware of.
School is out and summer is in full swing—yet for teens, the rising temperatures come with rising risks. That’s because most teenagers try alcohol for the first time during the summer months, when their free time tends to be largely unstructured and unsupervised.
If you’re the parent of a teenager, you likely have plenty of things to worry about—should your child using cannabis be one of them? It’s true that cannabis use is very common among today’s teens, but unfortunately, that doesn’t make it harmless.
Their first job, first car, first date—the teenage years are a time of growing independence and responsibility. But despite their newfound maturity, your child’s physiological development is still underway, with the brain continuing to develop until around age 25.