Graduation Summer: How to Help Your Teen Celebrate Safely

Lisa Coleman brings you our guest post today.  Please enjoy these graduation tips! 


Your teen’s graduation is a happy time in their life and hosting the ideal celebration can be the perfect culmination to their transition from teen to adulthood. However, you need to remember that they’re still 18, and you can ensure their safety by providing them with activities that can keep them drug and alcohol free. The following tips will help you throw your graduate a healthy and fun party.

Include Your Teen in the Planning

Since this is a graduation party for your teen, you want to include them in the planning process. This is a great way to host a cool party, but you can keep a close eye on important aspects such as the activities, cost and making sure drugs and alcohol are off-limits. Themed parties can be a lot of fun, and you’ll find an assortment of ideas such as a luau party, beach bash or karaoke celebration. You can also host the event at a local sporting event, amusement park or restaurant.

Set a Good Example

Enlist the help of other parents to make it a large celebration. The other adults in the crowd can set a good example by making it an alcohol-free party and serving soda, water and non-alcoholic punch. Don’t worry about being a cool parent by allowing alcohol to make its way in to the party. In order to keep teens safe, you need to hold tough and survey the scene with a critical eye. Teenagers and alcohol can be a deadly mix. A recent accident in Pennsylvania claimed the life of one young teen and left another 16-year-old companion in critical condition. The cause of the crash was alcohol related, and the teen was charged with a DUI and felony aggravated assault. Because of this lapse of judgement, the lives of all involved have been changed forever. While the punishments for teen drinking and driving should be tough, they do have rights and a DUI attorney should be contacted. Anyone who has been the victim of or responsible for an accident resulting from the use of drugs or alcohol should contact a DUI attorney who is experienced and knowledgeable of your rights and your local legal system.

Activities

Keeping the teens occupied with other activities can liven up a party without the need to include alcohol in the celebration. A limbo contest, karaoke singing, disc jockey with dancing and games can be a fun way to close a chapter in their lives. You can also add sentiment to the evening by collaging pictures of the teens throughout the years in scrapbooks and posters. Games of Twister and Charades always make for a fun filled time among young people too.

Be Alert

Some teens will try to find a way to sneak alcohol and drugs into a party, even though you’ve set the parameters ahead of time. You can be vigilant by limiting the times teens enter and leave the party. All backpacks, coolers and bags should also be thoroughly checked. Outside water bottles and other beverage containers can easily hide alcohol, so you need to limit them to consuming beverages that you’re serving. Another common practice is for a parent to obtain all the young individual's car keys who drove to the party, so that when it's time for them to leave they must get them from the parent. This is a great way to monitor that the individual has not been doing anything illegal.

A graduation party marks the end of an era and signifies your teen entering their adult years. The celebration should be a memorable occasion for the right reason, and you can ensure their safety by planning a healthy and fun party to commemorate the event.

Lisa Coleman shares ideas and suggestions to help a parent of a graduating teen with throwing a party for them during this once in a lifetime occasion, while keeping it safe and clean. Drinking and driving are a deadly mix and should never involve our youth. To find out further information regarding DUI, visit www.pennsylvania-dui-lawyer.com online where the Law Office of Steven E. Kellis, a Pennsylvania DUI attorney law firm, offers knowledgeable tips and can inform you of your rights.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7737776@N06/4647098313/

About Lisa Rusczyk

Lisa Rusczyk is the founder of Charlie The Cavalier (a blog about Charlie her dog, and her friends, family and home) and founder of 50ThingsToKnow. Lisa is a Doctoral student in Educational Leadership who happened to start writing her first book 50 Things to Know Before Having a Baby after her little girl was born. Her book sold over 1,000 copies in the first year on Amazon. Today, she has over 10 books and helps others self-publish. Further, she shares this information with the public via this blog, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and recently on a local television station. Lisa knows that like her there are a lot of people who would like concise information on a topic in one digital location. Lisa is known for her simple and effective tips.