Many parents of teens are cautious of underage drinking when it comes to New Year's, and there are a number of steps a parent can take to ensure that their child is safe for 2012. The first step is to be educated.

According to the Coronado Patch, parents need to be aware of the facts, as those who do not think that underage drinking is a serious problem end up being the ones to condone the behavior, which could lead to fatal consequences.

"Parents or other family members who do not feel that alcohol is harmful or believe it is a rite of passage often are the ones who furnish alcohol to minors, and those minors are often not their own children," Vicki Walker, a member of the Orange County Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools program, told the news source.

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, a recent study showed that nearly 2,000 underage-drinking related hospital visits took place on January 1, 2009. This is quite a scary statistic when compared to the national daily average of 546 emergency visits for the same reason.