Practice Role Play
Here is a potential role-playing scenario for you to try with your daughter. (You can turn the scenario around for boys or come up with other scenarios
that help children to practice their own resistance skills):
Take the role of a boy she likes and try to persuade her to share a six-pack of beer with you. What can she say? "You’re such a jerk!"
is alienating. "I don’t know..." leaves the door open and sounds like she could be coaxed. The middle ground, in which she’s firm
but friendly, works best. Help her rehearse key phrases that give reasons for why she simply won’t have a beer:
- "My parents would kill me if they found out, and they always find out!"
- "No, I’m not into that stuff."
- "I tried it once, and I hate the taste."
- "My parents trust me to not drink, and I don’t want to break that trust."
Or she could state the consequences of drinking:
- "I tried it once and ended up vomiting on everything!"
- "Drinking would make me feel out of control, and I hate that."
She’ll need to be prepared for protests. She can meet them with the "broken record" technique, in which she repeats her reason for not
drinking over and over until attempts at persuading her cease. Or she can make it clear that the discussion about beer is over by changing the subject:
"Did you watch the basketball game last night?" or "Hey, do you know if that concert’s sold out?" If all else fails, she should
leave the scene, saying, "I’ve got to go."
Next: Teen Stress
