Five Teen Safety Tips for the Fourth of July

The 4th of July has so much to offer: family cookouts, spectacular fireworks, bonding time with friends–and teenage drinking. It’s been proven that July 4th is one of the most dangerous and reckless times for teenagers–mostly because of alcohol. Sorry if you want to be the “cool” parent, but sitting your child down and rattling off some teen safety tips can do a lot for their safety over this holiday.
Surveys show that the amount of boys sent to the emergency room due to alcohol related circumstances doubled over the July 4th weekend, while the amount of girls only went up around 15 percent, which is still a large amount. The 4th of July can be loads of fun or it can be a time for teenagers to act out and get into trouble.

5 teen safety tips for the Fourth of July

1. Educate Your Teen: This may seem like one of the unnecessary teen safety tips, but you’d be surprised how many parents just expect their children to know not to fool around on such a dangerous day. Tell them the numbers, how many teens go to the hospital due to alcohol during July 4th weekend, how many car accidents happen, how many burns happen from being unsafe with fireworks–it may seem like they’re not listening, but it at least makes them think about it.
2. Have a Curfew: This may make you seem like a “lame” parent, but it’s better to be lame than have a hurt child. A curfew around 11PM gives teens enough time to hang out with friends, see fireworks, and explore a little bit–but it’s before many drunk drivers get out on the roads.
3. Offer to Pay for an Uber: This would only be for an extreme circumstance, of course, and there would still be consequences, but it’s better to have your child know you’ll help them get out of a dangerous situation, like drunk driving, rather than them trying to deal with it on their own.
4. Limit the Amount of Friends in the Car: This is one of the most underrated teen safety tips. The amount of friends in a teen’s car goes largely overlooked, especially on a holiday like 4th of July weekend–but this is when a parent should be the most aware. Friends act as a huge distraction and that’s something your teen cannot afford on a weekend when there’s a much larger amount of drunk drivers out on the road.
5. Throw a Party at Your House: Stay with me–this may sound ridiculous–but it could cut a lot of corners if you were to just throw a party at your place. Fireworks and everything. Offer to even step out for a little while if you’re comfortable with that, but this allows you to keep an eye on what your teen is doing while allowing them freedom on the 4th of July.

Trails Carolina can help

Trails Carolina is a wilderness therapy program for struggling teens, ages 10-17. Our students commonly deal with issues such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, trauma, and other behavioral challenges.
For more information about Trails Carolina can help your struggling teen, please call 800-975-7303 today!