Preparing the Freshman

Communication

Show you care when you talk to your student. You need to draw the line, but understand your student is growing up. Most of all, believe in your own power to help them avoid trouble:

• be a good role model
• be factual and straightforward
• good information is always the best defense
• do not use scare tactics

It is important to talk with your student often. You do not need to cover every topic in one conversation. Lecturing will get you nowhere - providing information is the key.

Expect the Best

Set expectations about class attendance, study time vs. free time, how you will keep in touch, and drinking. Make sure they understand that it is easy to have fun at college without drinking.

Valuable Information

Your family’s values have never been more important than now. You may feel your student knows your family values, but it is a good idea to restate your values and expectations. Your first-year student needs to know how to relate the values you have instilled to the choices your child will be faced with.

Priorities

Set clear and realistic expectations regarding grades. Studies show that heavy drinking may contribute to a student’s grades declining. If students are convinced their parents expect solid academic work, they are more likely to pay attention to their studies which will give them less time to get involved with drinking.

More Means Less

Alcohol is associated with missed classes and poor performance causing lower GPAs. The more drinks a student has each week, the lower the GPA, as shown below:

Grades and Drinking

The academic connection between alcohol use and academic performance is clear. According to the 2005 CORE institutes national study on college student alcohol use, students who choose not to use alcohol, or have 4 or fewer drinks per week are most likely to get A’s. This is based on students’ self-report. If you have read this chart and decided that if you drink 6 beers a week you can get a B in any class, you might want to take a statistics class, you have misread this chart. Students who attain a B average choose not to drink or drink 6 or less drinks per week. The Nation Core Institute also found that 40% of all academic problems are due to alcohol or other drug use and that 28% of all college drop outs are due to alcohol or other drug use.

Safe and Secure

Help your student understand their right to be safe. Students who do not drink can be affected by others who do drink. This can cause problems like interrupted study time, assault or unwanted sexual advances. Students should discuss the problem with the offender when possible. If that fails, they should ask campus staff to help them such as the AOD staff, the cultural center staff, the counseling center staff, community assistant, or student health staff.

Don’t Tell Tales

Your student may interpret stories of drinking during college as approving of dangerous alcohol consumption. If you drank alcohol at their age, avoid entertaining students with these stories.

Common Sense

Make sure your student understands that alcohol can be toxic and alcohol poisoning can kill. Ask your student to have the commonsense and self-confidence to intervene when they see someone risking their life by drinking dangerously.

Volunteering and Getting Involved

Encourage your student to volunteer or get involved on campus and in the surrounding community. It helps structure free time, and provides students with a broader outlook and a healthier respect for their lives. Students may contact the Involvement Office on campus for information on involvement opportunities.

Making It Clear

Underage drinking and alcohol impaired driving are against the law. You should openly tell your student disapprove of underage drinking, dangerous alcohol consumption, and driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Non-Alcohol Centered Events

Events centered on fun are more frequent at colleges than in the past years. There are plenty of events on campus offered to students that do not involve alcohol consumption.

Do What You Say You Will Do

Help your student think about how to handle certain situations before they face them on campus. You can help them prepare success fully for the unexpected. Communicate with your student in new ways — be a better listener, ask questions, and try not to react in a way that will shutdown the conversation. If your student says things that challenge you, try not to react harshly and explain you want to prepare them for a good college experience. Invite a discussion and don’t lecture. Talk to your student at a time and place for an easy give-and-take of ideas. Make sure they understand you recognize them as young adults. This is an exciting time for your student. And in the end, the choices about drinking are theirs to make. It will be their responsibility—not of the people at a party, the fraternity, roommates or friends. You have a large role in preparing your son or daughter to make responsible choices. Often, students make choices without thinking how those choices will affect them later. By sharing the information presented here before hand, you help them make responsible choices. While you may not be able to actively monitor your student away from home, you can be available to talk and listen. You’re shaping your student’s character, and you may be saving your child’s life.

Source: http://www.higheredcenter.org/parents/va-abc.pdf