Adolescents and the Importance of Parental Supervision.

“It’s 10 PM, do you know where your children are?” This ominous public service announcement that was the catch-phrase for broadcaster Tom Gregory on New York City’s WNEW-TV in the late 1960s, may sound dated these days, but the importance of the message remains stronger than ever. It has been clear for years that adolescents whose parents monitor and are aware of their activities participate in fewer risky behaviors, including alcohol use. Monitoring is more likely to be effective when combined with an authoritative parenting style. Although the initial parenting-style research was conducted in younger children, authoritative parenting that involves high levels of warmth and support combined with firm limit setting, supervision, and open communication, also promotes healthy development in adolescents. These types of parenting approaches likely serve to enhance family connectedness, which occurs when the adolescent herself perceives and internalizes the warmth, love, and caring expressed by his or her parents. High levels of family connectedness have been show to protect against a variety of adolescent risk behaviors, including early sexual activity, pregnancy, and tobacco and alcohol use.