Son's prom night DUI

lindz126
Sun, 07 Jul 2013 12:40:51 +0000

just wanted to share that I talked with my 17 yr old s about your son’s situation and we got to talking about what it’s really like for teens. He acknowledged that he was out recently with friends and one of them had a beer, and my s told him he wouldn’t drive with him and instead drove the friend’s car home. I didn’t love that he drove someone else’s car, but I was pleased he understood you don’t get into a car with a driver who’s been drinking.

He’s my third, so he has seen his older bro and sis make good choices throughout college and has seen us discuss things openly.

we also discussed how when adults go out and anticipate having a drink they determine who will be the designated driver, but that often teens do not plan like this, in part because they are more spontaneous, but also because since they aren’t supposed to be drinking at all they don’t consciously think it through. My s agreed. It’s challenging stuff because we certainly don’t want to encourage underage drinking but we need to give them clear and workable tools IF they find themselves in that situation. He pointed out that he’s comfortable expressing himself and not worrying what others may think. My d, an introvert, was less comfortable with this as she felt too awkward to open her mouth. She needed to know to just stay put where she was, ie. call me for a ride, or sleep over. So I think this is an important factor in helping our kids find what will work for them.

thank you NCDad for sharing your story, it definitely has helped me to discuss how even one simple bad choice can have such a challenging outcome. I believe your son will find his way through this, and learn from his experience, probably gain maturity as well. I have respect and empathy for your parenting through all of it…