Create a College Party Safety Plan With Your Teen [A Parent’s Guide]

This conversation is from our Free Guide: 7 Conversations About Substance Use to Have With Your Teen (And When to Have Them) 

We know how important it is to keep our kids safe, especially as they venture out into the world on their own. Whether going off to college, starting a new job, or simply moving out of the family home, our teenagers will eventually face new and unfamiliar situations that can be uncomfortable and unsafe. That's why it's important to have a safety plan in place, so our teens have the tools they need to stay secure even when we're not around.

In this article, we'll explore the importance of setting up guardrails as part of our safety plan. We'll discuss when to have this conversation, why it's essential, and the goals we hope to achieve. We'll also provide some practical suggestions for ways to help our teenagers stay safe, so they can enjoy their newfound independence with peace of mind.

When to have this conversation

Before they leave home for the first time

Why have this conversation

When our teens leave home for the first time, they will naturally find themselves in new, unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and possibly unsafe situations. It’s important that they have the tools to handle those on their own, especially if they’ll be in a different city and won’t have their parents immediately available to offer material support.

Goals for this conversation 

Update our safety plan to account for their new level of independence and potential lack of parental support

How to start this conversation

Update our safety plan to account for their new level of independence and potential lack of parental support

Questions you may ask during the conversation

• Have them coordinate with a friend or group of friends to put location finder apps on their phones. That way they’ll have people they trust that will always know where they are and how to find them.  
• Get them drink test strips so they’ll be able to check their drinks to make sure they haven’t been spiked or tampered with. 
• Create a dedicated Uber/Lyft account for them to use if they’re ever in a situation where they need to get home and there’s no designated driver. 
• Get trained in Narcan together so they know how to recognize and prevent overdoses. 
• Make sure they know they can still call you if they’re ever in trouble or in over their head.

Setting up guardrails for the sake of our teens’ safety is a critical step in helping them stay safe as they venture out into the world. Having open and honest conversations about the potential dangers they may face, and providing practical suggestions for ways to stay safe gives our teens the tools they need to handle themselves with confidence, no matter the situation. 

Having conversations like this one lets us work together with our teens to ensure they get to enjoy their newfound independence to the fullest while still staying safe. Partying is very likely to play a part in our kids’ growing up, and talking about it openly and setting up mechanisms to keep them in control is the only real way to get peace of mind while they’re away.

Read More: Teens who are taught harm reduction techniques are less likely to overdose or suffer other adverse effects from drug use.