Safety Tips for Parents

Spring Break Script Available Now

Spring Break is just around the corner and is a time when college students may be at particularly high risk of experiencing alcohol-related problems. The College Parents Matter website was developed to help parents have conversations with college-age children about excessive drinking. Created with input from experts in parent-child communication as well as college students themselves, the website has suggestions and scripts oriented to specific occasions, such as Spring Break. We encourage you to check out this very useful resource, as we all try to keep our young people safe and healthy. The website also features general tips for effective communication when parents talk about drinking with their child.

Don’t Push Your Luck – St. Patrick’s Day and Student Drinking

College Parents Matter has a script for parents to talk with their college-age child about how to stay safe during St. Patrick’s Day.

Research has found that college drinking increases during celebrations for special events or holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. This year, St. Patrick’s Day falls during many universities’ Spring Break week, another heightened time for drinking among college students. During this green-themed holiday, there are often promotions for cheap drink specials and all-day pub crawls, creating adverse consequences for college students such as missed classes, injuries, alcohol poisoning and drunk driving.