Does Your Teenager Drink?

Do you make it easy for your child to drink at home?

Do you have wine before and/or with dinner? Do you order alcohol when out to eat? Does anyone in your family laugh at drunks in movies? You could be sending the unspoken message that you think it's okay for your child to drink. Children will follow what you do, not what you say. Do you keep alcohol for mixed drinks, wine, or beer handy in the refrigerator or on the kitchen counter? It is fair game for a beginning drinker to pour hard liquor into a plastic container for private drinking at a later date or into a shaded glass to drink right under parents' noses. Know the exact quantity of alcohol in each bottle or container in your home. Do not take for granted that your child is not consuming alcohol; assume he or she is.

Where else do teens get liquor? Many teens today only attend parties that guarantee access to alcohol. High school students in an unsupervised home or a home where parents offer alcoholic drinking to their children and friends have been common for thirty years. A recent USA Today article quoted a study that stated that 75% of illegal aged drinkers drank mostly at house parties. These house parties are sponsored by do-gooder parents who think they are helping keep drinkers off the street or out from behind the wheel. Though in the 70's, teenagers were glad to BYOB, alcohol must be available at a party today or no teen bothers to attend. Teens today want it easy. Do you help make it easy without realizing it?

Are you setting a bad example about drinking?