Category Archives: Parents Empowered

Parents Empowered: Impact of talking about goals for the future on underage drinking

Parents Empowered

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With the holidays just around the corner, our children will have more free time. That often means unsupervised time without parents.

Parents Empowered of Utah say it’s a great time to talk to your teens and children about avoiding alcohol. One way to start the conversation is talking about goals for the future and what your kids want to be when they grow up.

“Underage alcohol can harm areas of the brain that are really important, like decision making, memory, impulse control,” says Elizabeth Klc, director of the Utah Substance Use and Mental Health Advisory Council. “Those kinds of areas that are really important to have working well, you want them to protect their brain, talking to them about that and talking about things they want to accomplish in their lives is huge.”

KUTV 2News’ Heidi Hatch sits down with Klc in this episode of the Parents Empowered podcast.

Parents Empowered: Back to School & Talking to Your Kids About Underage Drinking

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Back to school means new friends, new habits and new influences if your child’s life. This makes it an important time of year to talk to your kids about family rules and your expectations about underage drinking. Studies show parents are the number one influence and reason why kids decide not to drink which is why it’s crucial to set clear expectations.

KUTV 2News’ Heidi Hatch sits down with guests Kristina Pexton, Family Life Commissioner for the Utah PTA and Heidi Dutson with Parents Empowered in this episode of the podcast.

The podcast is offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking, how to prevent it and how to talk to your children about it because studies show kids are listening.

 

Parents Empowered Podcast: The graduation edition

Parents Empowered

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It’s graduation season and kids are going to be attending end-of-the-year graduation parties.

Parents empowered encourages parents to talk to their kids before they head out for the night and to ask them the five Ws.

  • Who will they be with?
  • Where are they going?
  • What are they doing?
  • When will they be home?
  • Will alcohol be present?

When kids get home, follow up and ask what happened, who was there and if there was alcohol.

Also, make sure your kids know you will pick them up with no questions asked if there is alcohol. Most importantly, talk to your children about expectations about underage drinking, because believe it or not, you are the most influential person in their life.

Surveys done in Utah schools show parents are the number-one reason kids say they choose not to drink. For ideas on how to talk to your kids, you can go to ParentsEmpowered.org or download a new podcast with Heidi Hatch on KUTV.com.

Parents Empowered podcast: Spring break and underage drinking

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With spring break and kids finally getting out and hanging out with friends with COVID-19 restrictions lifting and vaccinations readily available, experts say now is the perfect time for parents to talk to their teens about underage drinking.

2News Heidi Hatch is helping to facilitate the dialogue by discussing underage drinking prevention with special guests Rob Timmerman and Lt. Jeff Adams from Parents Empowered in a easily accessible podcast that can be listened to as a family.

The podcast is offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking, how to prevent it and how to talk to their children about it because studies show that kids are listening.

Parents Empowered: Graduation during COVID-19 & underage drinking prevention

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2News Heidi Hatch discusses underage drinking with Lt. Chad Jensen from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol Enforcement Bureau.

The new Parents Empowered podcast is being offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking and how to prevent it.

The question-and-answer segment focused on what parents can do to make sure their kids’ graduation celebrations remain alcohol-free. When Hatch asked Jensen what advise he had for parents, he responded by saying:

My message to parents is about keeping kids safe and protecting their healthy brains during graduation season. Let’s start off with the good news. Underage drinking in Utah is going down and has been for over a decade. Fewer and fewer kids are drinking. That means kids are staying safe, their brains are staying healthy and that’s opening doors to their bright futures. We, at Parents Empowered and in law enforcement, would like to thank all the parents, kids, teachers, coaches and communities who have contributed to the decline of underage drinking in Utah.

PODCAST – Parents Empowered: Spring break & underage drinking prevention

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2News Heidi Hatch discusses spring break and underage drinking prevention with guests from Parents Empowered.

The podcast is being offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking and how to prevent it. This is the third podcast to date.

Parents Empowered: The Holidays & Underage Drinking Prevention

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2News Heidi Hatch discusses underage drinking with Utah Division of Substance Abuse, Mental Health and member of Parents Empowered, Heidi Peterson, and Parents Empowered Workgroup and founding member to the Utah Prevention Coalitions Association, Rob Timmerman.

The new podcast is being offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking and how to prevent it.

Parents Empowered: Back-to-school & underage drinking

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 2News Heidi Hatch discusses underage drinking with the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Education Director Douglas Murakami and Regional Prevention Director, Utah Division of Substance Abuse, Mental Health and member of Parents Empowered, Heidi Peterson.

The new podcast is being offered quarterly to help parents understand the ramifications of underage drinking and how to prevent it.