SWYS - 1997 Behavior
Study Results
Parental Monitoring Can Decrease Teen Drinking and Sexual
Activity
Do you ever wish you could do more to protect your teenager
from the dangers of growing up in today's world? Research
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension suggests that
parents have more influence over their teens than they may realize. A
survey of over 100,000 adolescents in Wisconsin, including Grant
County teens, shows that parents who monitor their children closely
are much less likely to have a child who drinks alcohol excessively
than parents who don't monitor closely. The same is true
for tobacco and drug use and early sexual intercourse.
That is the finding of a 160 question survey conducted by Grant
County UW-Extension 4-H/Youth Agent, Tom Schmitz and Family
Living Educator/Office Chair, Nancy Stoutenborough. Responding
to the September 1997 survey were 2,837 students (grades 7-12)
in the school districts of Cassville, Iowa-Grant, Lancaster,
Platteville, Potosi, River Ridge, and Southwestern. Also
cooperating in the study were the School of Family Resources
and Consumer Sciences at UW-Madison and specialists from UW-Extension.
Parents have the opportunity and the challenge to monitor children
in ways which facilitate their development. Monitoring
involves a parent's supervision and awareness of a child's behavior
and whereabouts, but need not be overly intrusive. As teens
get older and develop more responsibility, family rules and expectations
should change to fit the situation. Parents don't have
to be with their teen all the time to keep track of friends,
activities and plans. Rather, monitoring implies that parents
show an active interest in the lives of their children and a
willingness to enforce family rules, conse- quences, and raise
issues that concern them.
"Results from the Grant County SWYS survey indicate teens who
are closely monitored by their parents are less likely to have
used alcohol excessively in the past month than teens who are
not closely monitored," reports Stoutenborough. Schmitz
adds, "When teens perceive their parents do not approve
of teen drinking, the teens are far less likely to drink and
the same is true of sexual activity. When teens are unsure
of their parents' values, they respond more similarly to those
who did not perceive that their parents' had objections to the
behavior whether it is drinking smoking or sexual intercourse."
Communication is the key to those positive relationships and
the survey asked teens about their communication with parents. Although
mothers have meaningful discussions with teens more often than
fathers, neither appear to be doing as well as they might like. As
earlier articles reported, approximately half (45%) of students
never discuss the risks of drinking or doing drugs with a parent. When
the topic is whether it's okay for teens to have sex, over three-fourths
of all students (74%) have never or rarely had a discussion with
a parent. Birth control appears to be even more difficult
with 80 percent of students reporting none or rare talks with
parents.
The survey also asked teens about how their parents respond
to setting family rules and enforcing consequences. Over
half of teens (54%) report that their parents often or very often
make sure they know ahead of time what the consequences will
be if they break one of their family rules and 61% said parents
often or very often enforce consequences when rules are broken.
They were also asked "If you violated a school code (behavior, academic, athletic
or activity) and your parents found out, what would they most likely do?" Over
half of teens said their parents would not report it to the school, however
83% indicated there would be consequences supported by the parents either
privately or in combination with consequences assigned by school.
"While, we'd like to think we are making progress in open communication,
the figures don't compare favorably to the survey conducted in 1993," said Stoutenborough. "It
is important to remember that the two surveys had different families reflected
in the data, but if we think in terms of general trends among all families, the
figures for all the questions related to parent-child communication indicate
less communication."
"The good news," says Schmitz, "is that these data reflect clearly
how much impact parents can have when they seize the opportunity. The
behavior reported by teens is clearly influenced by communication
with their parents. It may be the most important finding
of the study. This becomes an important issue for parents
of younger children too. "
A number of resources are available for parents including self-study
materials and group seminars and multi-session classes. A
favorite of area groups has been How to Talk so Kids Will Listen
and Listen so Kids Will Talk. According to Stoutenborough,
there are a number of trained facilitators in the area for this
program and many other excellent topics. A popular Extension
program in recent years is entitled Raising Responsible Teens
which focuses on setting limits, monitoring techniques, teaching
refusal skills to teens and overall communication skills between
parents and teens.
For more information about the SWYS survey and parent education
materials, contact Stoutenborough or Schmitz at the Grant County
Extension Office at 723-2125.
Return to 1997 Survey Results
Tom
Schmitz, Grant/Lafayette County Youth Development Educator
Youth and Agriculture Center P.O. Box 31, Lancaster, WI 53813
Phone: 608-723-2125 Fax: 608:723-4315
E-mail: thomas.schmitz@ces.uwex.edu |
