Teenagers are known for doing stupid things. It is somewhat expected as they are young and at a period in their lives when they want to try new and daring things. Some teenagers also cave in to peer pressure simply because they want to fit in.
Alcohol consumption among teens is a frequent epidemic. If a teen tells her parents that she is spending the night at a friend’s house for a harmless slumber party, chances are that the party is not so innocent and involves alcohol.
Teens will go to great lengths to obtain alcohol. This may mean using a fake ID or getting an older sibling to buy it for them. If these methods don’t work, then they will resort to unorthodox ways. A study shows that a rising number of teens are consuming alcohol by drinking hand sanitizer. An item that is used to clean your hands and kill bacteria is now being utilized by teenagers as a form of booze.
Hand sanitizer contains about 62 percent ethyl alcohol, and some teens are reportedly using salt to extract the alcohol content from the sanitizer. Since 2010, there have been 60 reported cases of teens being admitted to the hospital for alcohol poisoning and later admitting to have ingested the alcohol from hand sanitizer.
Anything clearly meant for cleaning a body part is not meant to go inside your mouth. One way for parents to prevent their kids from trying this stunt at home is by purchasing hand sanitizer in foam form, which is much harder to have the alcohol extracted.
Alcohol and teens obviously do not mix. Teenage drinking can cause dizziness, vomiting and nausea. It is believed that some teens are drinking the hand sanitizer without even bothering to separate the alcohol first, which can only compound the health risk. Parents need to be realistic and stop believing that their children will never do such a dumb thing. It is often this denial and attitude that causes them to miss the signs that their teens are engaged in such activities.