Ideas for Teaching Teens About Alcohol

Book a Motivational Speaker

• Many speaker's bureaus offer public speakers on social issues who have had personal experience on the topic. Find a teen speaker whose life has been dramatically altered by drinking, such as someone who's been in an accident where alcohol was a factor or a teen that got extremely ill from alcohol poisoning. Sometimes, teens respond better to kids their age who have had a bad experience with alcohol.

Throw The Alcohol Ball

• Use this lesson to teach teens about their lack of coordination and physical ability once they've downed a few drinks. Play a simple game of catch with a soft ball. Throw it back and forth a few times. Then, ask them to spin around 10 times and squint their eyes once they are done spinning. Have them throw it back to you while trying to accurately aim in your direction. In most instances, they cannot; this is a good example of how they may react after drinking.

Play 20 Questions

• Theme this game on alcohol and characterize a party situation to play. When a teen is feeling peer pressured, encourage her to ask questions about the drink in question. Generally, by asking, "What is this?" and "Where did you get it?" and "What are the effects of it" and other similar questions is enough to make the person pressuring the teen give up and move on to easier prey. It also teaches your teen never to accept a drink from someone without knowing what it is and what it consists of.

Drunk Tongue

• Play a game in which teens learn about the effects of overimbibing. According to PE Central, have them repeat the phrase "Alcohol Does Not Affect My Speech." Then, ask the teen to hold his tongue with his thumb and pointer finger and repeat the phrase again. Record the moment and play it back for students, so they can hear just what being drunk sounds like. It may sound silly and unappealing enough to discourage them from drinking.