One of the greatest dangers to today's teens is alcohol abuse. Alcohol was a factor in 2,273 U.S. traffic fatalities among those ages 15 to 20 in 1999 (the most recent statistics available). The average age at which U.S. teens start drinking is 16-down from 18 in the 1960s. Early drinkers are more likely to develop a dependency on alcohol.

The rate of harmful alcohol use is disturbing. Some 30 percent of high school seniors, 26 percent of 10th graders and 14 percent of eighth graders reported having at least five drinks in a row-binge drinking-in the two weeks before they responded to a recent U.S. government survey. Alcohol-centered partying continues into college or university, where students face strong peer pressure to drink.

Some have suggested that Americans need to introduce alcohol to their children at a younger age to "demystify" its use and, hopefully, curb the destructive trend. A U.S. Justice Department report that compared European and U.S. data on youth drinking challenges that idea. The analysis, which was released in July, revealed that a higher percentage of European youths reported having five or more drinks in a row. Additionally, the intoxication rate among youth is higher in about half of the European countries than it is among youth in the United States.

What can be done? Hands-on parents make a dramatic difference in keeping children from abusing alcohol, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). CASA conducted a study on youth drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco use. It found that there was a clear distinction between the rate of problems in children of hands-on parents and those of hands-off parents.

Hands-on parents did 10 or more of the following actions. Hands-off parents did five or less.

• Monitor what their teens watch on TV.
• Monitor teen Internet use.
• Restrict the CDs that teens buy.
• Know where teens are after school and on weekends.
• Get the truth about teens' whereabouts.
• Be "very aware" of academic performance.
• Impose curfews.
• Make it clear that they would be "extremely upset" if their teens used marijuana.
• Eat dinner together six to seven nights per week.
• Turn off the TV during dinner.
• Assign regular chores.
• Have an adult present when the teen returns home from school.
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Sources: AP; The Boston Globe; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.