Should Parents Let Their Teenagers Drink ?
Posted Under: conscious living, health, parenting
“Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use of any other drug with special horror.” William S. Burroughs
I do not believe that anyone under the legal drinking age should be allowed to consume alcohol. The above quote illustrates our national love affair with booze quite well. How can we tell our kids not to get drunk when everyone else is apparently having so much fun doing it. Just tell them it’s dangerous, wrong and not worth it; and just because you as their parent survived it, doesn’t mean that they will.
As a society we have enacted laws to protect our youth from the dangerous affects of alcohol, yet many parents choose to ignore these laws and knowingly allow their children to drink to the point of alcohol poisoning, often purchasing the alcohol for them. Why not hold a pistol to your kids head with a single round in it, spin the barrel and pull the trigger; because that is what you’re doing when you put a bottle of booze in their hands and send them off into the night. Alcohol has stolen the lives of thousands, and on this Friday evening, as I’m writing these words, some parents are saying goodbye to their children for the last time.
When it comes to alcohol related deaths and injuries I don’t know what the odds of it affecting your kid is, I suppose I could look into the statistics to find out, but intuitively it is apparent that the risks are obvious. We have all known people who have died or been severely injured in an alcohol related accident, I have known four; two have fallen to their deaths over cliffs, one was killed in a car crash, and one is now a quadriplegic. And that’s just me, one man, imagine how many more are dead and maimed in the world thanks to alcohol. These incidents are seen as terrible accidents. Isn’t an accident defined as something that could not be prevented? If you place your hand in the fire and wonder why you have been burned, I would say that you are a fool, not the victim of an accident.
It’s not only the irresponsible parents who are failing to protect their children, those who enforce our laws are not doing such a stellar job either. When police raid a party where kids are drinking under-aged, some alcohol may be confiscated and minor charges may be laid, but generally the kids are just told to go home. If each and every one of the offending drunk minors was dragged into the police station, whereupon their parents were rousted out of bed at 2:00am to come and pick up their kid, where a hefty fine and a possible criminal charge were awaiting them, things would change very quickly! The laws are in place. If we want to save lives we only have to enforce them.
When a teenager having no experience with alcohol drinks, their first taste could be their last. They have no idea how drinking will effect them. Invariably they over do it, drink way more than is required to actually get drunk, and quite often end up in the hospital being treated for alcohol poisoning: and some will die. A teenager simply does not have the life experience to make reasonable decisions regarding their tolerance to alcohol. All their decisions are based on having a good time, as they should be. Kids feel the early pleasant dizzying effects of drunkenness and they like it, what’s more, they enjoy having their inhibitions lowered so they can talk to each other with an engaging ease. That’s why we as parents need to guide them through this period in their lives to ensure that they get the knowledge they require and to ensure that they remain safe and healthy.
We have all known the stereotypical ‘preacher’s daughter’. The girl whose parents are so strict that they will not let her out with friends until she is of a certain age. Of course when this kid finally gets out, or sneaks out, they tie one on with a vengeance in an attempt to make up for lost party time. These girls end up extremely drunk, puking on the front lawn of some nice suburban home or find themselves in the back seat of some boys car covered in vomit; isn’t that nice, such dignity. That stereotype has now expanded to include a lot more kids than just the preachers daughter.
About 4 young people die every day in the United states from alcohol related injuries and adults continue to have a lackadaisical attitude toward teenage drinking stating that its just kids having a good time, we all did it and we turned out alright. If a sudden disease suddenly sprang up an began killing our youth at the rate of 4 per day there would be a worldwide panic! Why do we allow this epidemic to continue. Our definition of social acceptability needs a reality check!
Of course I am a hypocrite, I very rarely drink now but when I was a teenager I drank like a fool. I was a lucky kid, nothing bad happened. But as the old adage goes, “do as I say, not as I do.” As a parent, it’s not my role to be my child’s ‘party friend’; I am to be their protector and advisor. We, as the parents, are allowed to be hypocritical; safety comes ahead of our own self indulgent morality.
So take a stand against under-aged drinking and say to your teens, “no, you will not drink alcohol.” They may be angry, so what, they’ll get over it. Do you want to be their buddy, or do you want them to live? Would you rather upset your child a little, or bury them?
