Letting teen drink under parent's watch backfires

slimvictor

slimvictor

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Those who drank with supervision more prone to problems than those told to wait, study says

By Linda Carroll
msnbc.com contributor
updated 4/29/2011 8:37:51 AM ET

As prom night approaches and parents begin to worry about what might happen during after hour parties, some might be tempted to try to teach their high schoolers to drink responsibly – by allowing them to consume alcohol under supervision.

That approach, scientists now say, is dead wrong.

A new study shows that teens who drink with an adult supervising are more likely to develop problems with alcohol than kids who aren’t allowed to touch the stuff till they hit age 21.

(...)

Australian teens were more likely than their American counterparts to be drinking with adult supervision by eighth grade — 66 percent versus 35 percent — and they were more likely to have experienced harmful consequences from their drinking — 36 percent compared to 21 percent.

No matter which continent kids and parents came from, it was clear that the strategy to teach teens responsible drinking habits through supervised consumption was backfiring.

cont at
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42807670/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/
 
A new study shows that teens who drink with an adult supervising are more likely to develop problems with alcohol than kids who aren’t allowed to touch the stuff till they hit age 21.
Click to expand...

Who honestly never gets shitfaced until they are 21? I'd say the minority.
 
its more so the fact that they have to hide it and aren't actually allowed to do it, or at least given permission. obviously the majority of teens do, its just saying that parents shouldnt condone, even with good intentions
 
I have no reason to suspect that the "new study" is flawed, as I haven't seen it.
It seems possible, however, that the parents were more likely to permit their kids to drink if they themselves were alcoholics, though. I also wonder about the extent of their acceptance of their children's drinking - did they permit a half-glass once a week, or turn a blind eye completely?

However, my personal philosophy as a parent will be to encourage responsibility and moderation in all things, including drug use. It will also be to encourage them not to believe everything they are taught and to listen to their own body and feelings.

I don't think that there is a correct answer for every family, for every child.
Some are very mature at 17, others are still immature selfish brats when they die at 86.


If my kids were having problems in school, refused to relate to me, etc., I would be more wary to give them the green light than if they were participating wholeheartedly in many facets of life with what I judged to be a healthy attitude.

Assessing the individual child's abilities and capacities seems the best approach.

This seems to me to be a reasonable way to approach many decisions that come with being a parent. But it is not a good message for "the professionals" to give to the masses (for various reasons, or maybe this is just how those in power see things).
The professionals need to send a message that is easy to remember by the lowest common denominator.
If such a message furthers some other social/political agenda, so be it.
 
I started drinking at baptisms & wedding as a youngster because they had open bars. I was 10 years old & would walk up to a bartender at an open bar at a wedding & ask for a whiskey sour & tell the guy it was for my dad & he would give it to me. This was back in the 80's when kids could walk into a restaurant & get a pack of cigarettes out of the machine.

Anyway, usually my family would attend several weddings a year & the same 2 or 3 bartenders would be their working the weddings. I dont think my parents knew the extent of my drinking at these functions but they never said much when they would see me & my friends drinking. Once in a while my dad would stroll by & ask what I was drinking but thats about it.

I once was drunk at a wedding & it was really late & I was running around with a friend in the dance hall & slipped on an ice cube & split my forehead open. My mom started flipping out when she saw the blood but I didnt feel much pain but was taken to the hospital for stitches. Till this day I always wondered if the doctor & nurse that stitched me up ever smelled the alcohol on my breath. Because now a days, parents would lose custody of their child for that shit. Society is getting way too strict now a days.

I drank more alcohol under the age of 21 than I did from 21 until I quit drinking at the age of 30.
 
^ Yeah man I know exactly what you mean. I remember the first time I got drunk was at age 11 at an Irish wake for my uncle. Lots of booze and plenty of drunken family that thought it funny to get youngsters drunk. I honestly think that my exposure to all these sloppy drunken fools is what turned me away from drinking casually in my personal life now.
 
You can't compare people who drink early in life and those who wait until they are 21. Of course there will be differences, they are distinctly different groups of users.
No matter which continent kids and parents came from, it was clear that the strategy to teach teens responsible drinking habits through supervised consumption was backfiring.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see a comparison of the USA and Australia to European countries with more lenient alcohol laws. It is a common belief that Americans are much more irresponsible when using alcohol, I'd like to see a real study about this...
 
Whether or not someone drinks before age 21 doesn't have much to do with what their parents allow. My parents didn't let me drink and I drank anyway, and I know people who were allowed to drink but didn't.
 
Witnessing my parents' alcoholism definitely contributed to my own. Parents' furnishing with me with alcohol definitely didn't help either.
 
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