I remember when I was probably about 8 years old, and I stood in front of my mom in my PJs on New Years Eve, and begged her to let me try some of her champagne. She laughed me off a few times, and then finally relented, knowing I was too young to like it and would leave her alone after a taste. She was right; I tasted it, puckered at the bitterness, and loudly proclaimed I would never drink again.
Flash forward about 7 years, when I was 15, still stuck at home on New Years Eve, this time because my mom didn’t want to have to worry about what I was doing and experimenting with with my friends, even though I never gave her any reason to distrust me (err on the side of caution parenting, she called it.) This time, I begged her for a drink, not only because I knew what it tasted like, but had secretly drank with my friends a few times, and I felt like I was missing out. This time, because moms are smarter than you think, she gave me an emphatic “no” and look that told me not to push it.
Statistics show that no matter what parents do, most U.S. teens have tried alcohol by the age of 18. According to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 75 percent of high school students have tried alcohol at least once, nearly 45 percent had at least one drink in the 30 days before the survey, and 26 percent had five or more in a sitting during the same 30 day period.
Many parents have the attitude that if they take away the mystery of alcohol, kids will be less likely to experiment later, but in reality, it’s the opposite. The earlier children are introduced to alcohol, or drugs, or sex, the more likely they are to abuse or face serious consequences as a result of those substances. Children do not have the same decision making capabilities as adults, which is why the legal drinking age is 21.
Alcohol, however, is legal at a certain age, so unlike hard drugs, parents have the certain expectation that at some point, there is a strong possibility their child will drink anyway, so it’s not a matter of if, but when. However, the adults that struggle with alcoholism and the consequences of irresponsible drinking, like DWI’s and drunk driving accidents, are astronomically more likely to have a long established relationship with alcohol. Rarely did any of these adults wait until 21 to take their first drink.
On New Years, of course, it seems more harmless, because everyone is celebrating and it’s a special occasion, but the action is the same: showing your children that despite the law, drinking alcohol really isn’t that big of a deal, and that you, as their parent, really don’t take the law seriously. It’s your decision, and it may sound extreme, but don’t be surprised when your teen comes home on a Friday drunk, and they act surprised when you are upset, bringing up that glass of champagne you let them have on New Years. Kids have long memories, especially when it will get them out of trouble.
Alcohol is harmful to the body, impairs judgment and underage drinking is against the law. A sip itself may not seem dangerous, but a sip from a can of beer can open up a whole different can of worms.
Comments
Lew Bryson
January 3rd, 2010 - 7:07:41 PM
You know, "in reality," when you say "The earlier children are introduced to alcohol, or drugs, or sex, the more likely they are to abuse or face serious consequences as a result of those substances", you're confusing correlation with causality. It's kind of like saying eating ice cream causes drowning, because drowning and ice cream consumption both go up in the summer (only...that's also when people go swimming, which can, unlike eating ice cream, cause drowning). Try this instead: “AFD (age at first drink) is not specifically associated with alcoholism but rather is correlated with a broad range of indicators of disinhibited behavior and psychopathology. Moreover, individuals who first drink at a relatively early age manifest elevated rates of disinhibitory behavior and psychopathology before they first try alcohol. Taken together, these findings suggest that the association of AFD with alcoholism reflects, at least in part, a common underlying vulnerability to disinhibitory behavior. Whether an early AFD directly influences risk of adult alcoholism remains unclear.” That's from REAL scientists (McGue, M., et al.: Origins and Consequences of Age at First Drink. in: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. 25(8): 1156-1165, August 2001). See, you have to read the WHOLE study. Not just the part that fits your agenda. I hate the idea of kids being harmed by alcohol: getting drunk, becoming drunks, or being abused by adult drunks. But stopping that takes honest research and policies that actually work. Not twisting the truth to make things look worse than they are.
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