Do you ever wonder just how “common” common sense is? We wonder how it is that there is so much obesity among our youth. But all they ever see is super-sized meals. Even I was surprised to hear that a reasonable portion of meat (one that won’t make you gain weight) is about the size of a pack of cards. Young people see adults getting a daily Starbucks, and don’t realize that their part-time income from a fast food job can’t support that level of spending if they also want to save for college. What if we told them that they can make a quality cup of coffee at home for about 25 cents (including creamer and sugar).
And then there’s drinking. A study of 2,544 teens found that “Downing five or more alcoholic drinks nearly every day isn’t seen as a big problem” by 45% of them! Maybe our kids need a reality check. Maybe it’s our job to impart a little common sense. When one in three 8th graders drinks, and one in five teens binge drink, it’s time have a talk. You can start this way: “I know that as you get older, some of your friends [kids in school] are going to drink alcohol…”
Here is more about drinking from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers: Link to Statistics