Are You Talking to Your Child About Alcohol?

This is a sponsored post by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR).

My daughter is now 11 1/2.  I have spent much of her life protecting and shielding her from things I feel are inappropriate for her age.  Her elementary school has been teaching her to say no to drugs since she was in first grade.  I’ve always thought this was a little young to begin teaching kids about drugs, but what I do like about this yearly campaign, is that is brings an important topic up for discussion and provides parents a foundation upon which to talk to our children in a relevant manner.  How often does the subject of drugs come up?  Well, really hardly never, so I appreciate this opportunity to talk about the effects of drugs on people.

I have talked to my children about alcohol here and there.  Explaining to them that you need to be 21 to drink due to the fact it can alter your personality and fog your mind.  You need to be older and so you can make wiser decisions as to how much to drink and when not to drink.  As my daughter nears 7th grade next year, I now look for relevant opportunities to talk to her about things that can either harm her by her own actions or those of someone else.

The Grab the Goodies App

The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR) is a foundation created to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking while promoting responsible decision-making in drinking alcohol.  Just in time for Back-to-School, they have created an educational tool called the Grab the Goodies App.  The Grab the Goodies App is a part of their Ask Listen Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix program, to teach kids about the importance of healthy eating while learning about the negative consequences of underage drinking.

The Grab the Goodies App features an overzealous orange octopus who loves to stick out his long tongue to grab things thrown in the air related to  good decisions (healthy food, recycling, good grades) while avoiding bad decisions (wine bottles, vodka bottles, bad grades, etc.).

As kids are successful grabbing the good things, they advance to the next level.

In between each level is a question relating to health or how alcohol affects the body.  Answering the question correctly advances them to the next level and gives them more points.  You lose points by grabbing things constitute bad decisions and your Octopus begins to turn greenish, showing how bad decisions like alcohol aren’t good for your body.

The Grab the Goodies App is a bit of an addictive game, though simple game.  I got up to level 35, the top level you can achieve and was surprised at how many questions were asked and not repeated.

The Grab the Goodies app is a free educational app available for both iOS and Android.

A Mom’s Perspective

The Grab the Goodies app gives parents a platform to talk about the affects of alcohol and other drugs on people.  It’s a segue into describing the issues a relative, friend, or person in the news got into as a result of misusing alcohol.  Is the Grab the Goodies a life-long game?  Well, no.  After a certain number of plays, your child will get tired with it, but s/he sure will be better educated.  I told my daughter my latest achieved level (35) and score and now she’s trying to beat it.I like a little competition, especially where learning is concerned.  While she played I had the opportunity to give her some insight…and narrative to the questions she was being asked.

Download the Grab the Goodies app (iOS and Android) when you have an open afternoon and play it with your child.  Talk through the questions and take a few moments to give your personal views of alcohol responsibility.  On average, it takes someone 3 to 8 times to hear something before they remember it.  Don’t wait until your child is confronted with alcohol opportunities in junior high or high school, begin the conversation ahead of time to help your child make smart decisions.

For more information in starting open conversation with your kids about alcohol and alcohol responsibility, visit the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility website.

*  I was compensated by FAAR for the time spent reviewing and writing about the Grab the Goodies app.