Springtime means prom season, which is a milestone moment for your child. However, this can also mean that your teenager’s wellbeing is at risk to peer pressure to go along with drink-driving, out-of-control after-parties, unprotected sex and using drugs. Many teen participants in a study called How teens feel about real world issues, agreed that, for the sake of their own wellness, prom needs to be safer, and students need to make better choices. Yet Susan Toman of the Guidance Centre in Southold, New York, asserts, ‘Regardless, prom is about having fun with your friends, and if you stay away from dangerous decisions, you will probably have a good time.’
Toman advised, ‘Talk to your son or daughter and remind them of your boundaries. Discuss everything, and leave no stone uncovered; from the possibility of others drinking and drugging, club drugs, and the peer pressure they may come under to participate in this behaviour. Role-play refusal skills. Teach kids to be polite, while firmly refusing to participate. Some prevention programmes suggest if a youth is strong enough when presenting refusal, they can also suggest to the peer who may be thinking of using by saying, “Maybe you want to rethink your decision?”’
She added that teens should sign a contract with parents before prom night, which is something that certain schools insist upon before handing out prom tickets. ‘In the contract, your teen agrees to not participate in underage drinking or drugging, that they will not make any unsafe choices, will wear their seat belt, and that they will promise to call you at different, agreed-to times during the evening,’ Toman explained. ‘They also promise that they will not get into a vehicle with anyone who has been under the influence of alcohol or drugs.’
You should also agree to be available to pick up your teenager, no questions asked, as well as discussing a curfew and making sure you have the house number and the name of the adult responsible for the after-party. Toman said, ‘Parents still, even at this age, have the most influence on their child. If a child has your support and knows the standards you wish for them, and you supply them with the tools to contend with peer pressure, they usually will adhere to their parents’ or guardians’ standards.’
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