I heard a news report yesterday concerning a recent study done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The conclusion was that teenagers behave differently behind the wheel when they know their parents are watching, as opposed to when they are unsupervised. My initial response was, Duh! What's new.
During my years as a high school counselor I often encountered parents who had a distorted image of their child. When informed of an inappropriate behavior the response was often, "My son/daughter would never do that." My thought was usually, "Yes, not while you are watching."
Our behavior is determined by our personal ethics. A great definition for ethics is: How we behave when no one is looking. I think that definitely applies here.
A bigger issue for me is: How do parents behave when they know their teens are watching them? It does no good to tell your child not to abuse alcohol if they regularly see you with a drink in your hand when at home. What do we expect when we make it a habit of driving ten miles over the speed limit when they are sitting in the car with us?
Parents are a role models for teens, whether they want to be or not.
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