<p>I just read an article on cnn.com about this. Unfortunately, I am computer illiterate and don’t know how to paste the article onto here. The article basically says that if you teach your children to drink responsibly, from an early age, say 14 or 15, it would prevent them from binge drinking later on. Your thoughts?</p>
<p>From CNN:
"Experts say binge drinking continues to be a growing problem across the country. According to a recent report from the U.S. surgeon general, there are nearly 11 million underage drinkers in the United States. Nearly 7.2 million are considered binge drinkers, meaning they drank more than five drinks in one sitting.</p>
<p>In this age of “just say no,” some people believe it is time for Americans to reconsider how they teach kids about alcohol. Peele’s father is at the top of the list.</p>
<p>“We taught them to drink in a civilized fashion, like a civilized human being,” says Stanton Peele, psychologist and author of “Addiction-Proof Your Child.”</p>
<p>He says many of the programs set up to stop alcohol abuse contribute to the teen binge-drinking crisis. Any program that tells kids flatly not to drink creates temptation, he says. “Preparing your child to drink at home lessens the likelihood that they are going to binge drink,” he says. “Not sharing alcohol with your child is a risk factor for binge drinking.”</p>
<p>Peele says other cultures have figured it out. He points to Italy, Greece and Israel, where children are given small amounts of wine at religious celebrations or watered-down alcohol on special occasions.</p>
<p>But many other experts say the psychologist is off base. “That’s ridiculous,” says Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation. “By allowing teens to drink,” Fay says, “you are giving permission to your children to do harmful things.”’
<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/09/27/kid.drinking/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/09/27/kid.drinking/index.html</a></p>
<p>As a person with a doctorate in clinical psychology who worked extensively in the additions field, I think that Peele’s ideas are dangerously wrong. While probably giving very watered down wine won’t hurt a child (though I don’t suggest doing this), what if someone decides it’s OK to give full strength bourbon? After all, some of the people giving following this advice may be alcoholics or otherewise have terrible judgment due to making decisions about giving alcohol to their kids while they, the adults, are impaired by drinking.</p>
<p>Also, if a kid is given the message that watered down wine is OK, suppose they decide to start sneaking booze behind their parents’ backs? Sure, theoretically any kid could decide to do that, but I think it’s more likely that a kid whose parents already are giving them wine might decide that it’s ok to start sampling earlier full strength alcohol.</p>
<p>And where is Peele’s research-based proof of what he’s recommending? His 19-year-old daughter’s claiming to “drink in moderation” with friends isn’t what I call proof nor would it be something I’d be proud of my kid for doing since underaged drinking is illegal – whether or not one believes that it should be illegal.</p>
<p>Thank you, Northstarmom, for the article! I really need to learn how to do that. </p>
<p>As for Peele’s ideas, I lean towards agreeing with him.</p>
<p>There’s an enormous amount of data that proves Peele wrong. You can find quite a bit of it in my TRENDS report under underage drinking at <a href=“http://www.dshs.wa.gov/dasa[/url]”>www.dshs.wa.gov/dasa</a> . New report will up in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Which isn’t to say that in individual cases it won’t work, only that, on a population basis, early drinking - including the introduction of alcohol to children by their parents - is the best predictor of future alcohol abuse and addiction.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with allowing a 14 yr old to drink. Even watered down wine. But I do agree with teaching an adult child to drink responsibly. Meaning I think 18 yr olds should be allowed to have a drink or two at home and taught moderation. I didn’t allow it with my kids because it was against the law. But I don’t think it should have been.</p>
<p>The drinking age was 18 when I was in college. We could drink in the dorm. We didn’t have to sneak off campus and get as much into ourselves as we could. I do think not allowing adults to drink legally contributes (not the sole cause) to binge drinking.</p>
<p>We live near Detroit. Kids can drive over the bridge and legally drink in Canada when they are 19. I would much prefer they stay home and drink responsibly but it’s against the law. Seems silly to me.</p>
<p>Since many in the US do not frown on teens’ binge drinking, but consider it a normal rite of passage as well as a wonderful way of having fun, the U.S. lacks one of the protective factors that the below claims are keys to success with alcohol consumption. Consequently, allowing kids to drink diluted wine – something that may work in Italy in preventing teens’ binge drinking – may have a different impact in the U.S.</p>
<p>"There appear to be at least three common “keys to success” with alcohol consumption:</p>
<p>Alcohol itself is seen as a neutral substance - neither good nor bad in itself. It’s neither a poison nor a magic elixir that can solve peoples’ problems. It’s how alcohol is used that is important.
People can choose either of two equally acceptable options: (a) to abstain or (b) to drink responsibly and in moderation. What is totally unacceptable for anyone under any circumstance is the abuse of alcohol. Alcohol abuse is simply never tolerated.
People learn how to drink from an early age within the safe and supporting environment of the home. They don’t learn how to drink from their friends and acquaintances, who aren’t looking out for their best interests. Common sense suggests that it’s better to learn how to drink in the parent’s house than in the fraternity house."
<a href=“http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1098903340.html[/url]”>http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1098903340.html</a></p>
<p>"Alcohol consumption in Western Europe is generally considered to be more moderate in nature – daily, and with meals – than it is in other countries such as the United States. New research indicates that this may be an “urban myth,” and that drinking levels in Italy – as measured by the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Italian primary schools – are just as high as they are in the new world.
Results are published in the September issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.</p>
<p>“Both human and animal studies have shown that heavy and binge drinking are the most highly associated with FAS damage,” said Philip A. May, professor of sociology, and family and community medicine, at The University of New Mexico. “A common perception is that daily drinking with meals is less damaging to the fetus, and that this drinking pattern is the norm in Western Europe. While we have still not untangled or answered this relationship, our study results do show that there are individuals in Italy who drink heavily enough to produce a rate of FAS which needs our attention.” May, also an epidemiologist, is the study’s corresponding author."
<a href=“http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/ace-fis082106.php[/url]”>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/ace-fis082106.php</a></p>
<p>Also interesting, and indicates that the teen binge drinking rate in Italy would be higher if U.S. binge drinking standards were used.</p>
<p>" Similarly, a study in Italy found that consuming an average of eight drinks a day was considered normal drinking – clearly not bingeing. 4 In the United kingdom, bingeing is commonly defined as consuming 11 or more drinks on an occasion. But in the United States, some researchers have defined bingeing as consuming five or more drinks on an occasion (an “occasion” can refer to an entire day). And now some have even expanded the definition to include consuming four or more drinks on an occasion by a woman."
<a href=“http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/BingeDrinking.html[/url]”>http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/BingeDrinking.html</a></p>
<p>I think that most people consider it binge drinking when a person consumes enough alcohol in order get tipsey or drunk. And I think that how we parents handle alcohol in the home is important. A bottle of beer after mowing the lawn on a hot day or a few glasses of wine with dinner is absolutely okay. Pounding down a few martinis in order to wind down following a tough day at work is not IMHO.</p>
<p>I taught our son that drinking alcohol is perfectly okay as long as it is used as simply a beverage AND as long as you are not driving afterwards. Nobody that I know drinks a six pack of soda pops in one sitting. Nobody I knows drinks a few Aquifinas to unwind. Nobody is pressured to drink a Gatoraid because everyone else is drinking one.</p>
<p>And after he finished hs we decided we would offer him a glass of wine. After suffering thru a glass of a full bodied Pinot Noir he passed on subsequent offers. Hah! Our reasoning was that it is legal for parents to serve 18 yr old children alcohol in their homes and that he would soon be exposed to unsupervised alcohol on entering college. Now was the time we could begin teaching lessons in responsible drinking and that it was not some forbidden fruit to experiment with.</p>
<p>At home we started offering our older daughter wine at dinner table since she was 16. She would have a glass sometimes, but most of the time she’ll say no (I notice she always says yes to my good champagne). Drinking is not a big taboo in our house, but she was not allow to drink outside of the house when she was in HS. She is a freshman in college now. I know she does drink when she goes to parties, but she does not get drunk. She said what they serve is just not the same as what we have in the house.:)</p>
<p>hellz yea- 10char</p>
<p>3bm103, I found out it is not illegal for a parent to allow their own child to consume alcohol on private property (at least in Massachusetts). I don’t agree with letting 14 - 15 year olds drink. But I see nothing wrong with an 18 - 20 year old having a glass of wine with Thanksgiving dinner, (assuming they’re not driving, of course), or one beer with dad while watching a football game. I don’t know if it encourages responsiblity with drinking, but at least it would remove a little of the “forbidden” thrill.</p>
<p>In a number of states it is legal for minors to be served alcohol in restaurants if they are with their parents.</p>
<p>While I bow to mini’s studies on this matter and agree in many ways. I think it comes with the old “milage will vary”… </p>
<p>I think acohol is the canary in the coal mine in some ways. It usually is the first indicator of an addictive behavior pattern with some people. </p>
<p>I do think to this generation’s credit, kids are far more responsible about not getting behind the wheel than past generations. They are listening and they are far more aware than we were. </p>
<p>Do my kids drink? Yup. to excess? not very often, rather rarely. While they enjoy spirits they also very strongly understand the need to be responsible in the comsumption. Not just in the amount they consume, but where they do it, and how they get around after. </p>
<p>Spoke with my S yesterday and talked about his rugby match and the drink up. He said he had a great time, drank a bit too much during the party and took a cab home. In my day I would never have considered a cab ride.</p>
<p>I’m going to be a bit cynical here and wonder how many of the people who say that using alcohol to unwind isn’t okay, have ever used coffee to wake themselves up in the mornings.</p>
<p>I don’t think using alcohol to unwind is wrong- if someone wants to have a glass of wine or a hot toddy at the end of the day- just so they don’t go out and drive. To me, it’s no different than taking a Tylenol PM to go to sleep at night.</p>
<p>MNA: It is illegal in the State of Michigan. Both at home and in a restaurant. The point also being that although I doubt my kids would turn me in (which is besides the point. It IS illegal, and therefore I won’t do it) my feeling is I would rather have my 18, 19 or 20 yr old drinking in my basement where we can monitor and teach then to drink responsibly with friends, than driving to Canada. We cannot and will not serve underage adults in our home. But seriously, who thinks a 19 or 20 year old can’t handle a glass of wine or a beer? But by the time they can drink legally, they are usually away at school and therefore learning by themselves or others their age.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it’s illegal in VT for a parent to serve even their own underage child alcohol, even in their own home. I would imagine this is in place so that parents can he held responsible if they are allowing drinking to the point of intoxication or drinking before driving, not for those allowing sips of wine at a Passover Seder.</p>
<p>I was offered a sip of alcohol and even a puff of cigarettes by adults when I was not yet a teenager. From personal experience, that completely took away the curiosity, novelty or thrill for me. I never took up smoking and I never drank more than a couple of drinks at a time. Well maybe sometimes now I will have a third glass of wine (to finish off the bottle at a restaurant) if I am not driving for the next few hours.</p>
<p>My 15 yr old has been sipping wine/beer/margaritas, etc for the last few years. Doesn’t like the wine much, seems to have a taste only for dark German beer and mainly goes for the salt on the rims of the margarita glasses. She has never had more than a few sips. Meanwhile, several of her classmates are known to be regular binge drinkers of beer and a couple of them even ended up in the emergency room because they passed out with acute alcohol intoxication. Their parents either don’t know or “don’t wan’t to know” about their alcohol (and pot) consumption. </p>
<p>Will my child drink when she is in college? I don’t know. I do feel though, that she is mature enough to make the right decision when it comes to binge drinking or drunk driving. Do I think my introducing her to alcohol at an early age is more likely to make her be irresponsible with alcohol later? Based on my own personal experience, I don’t think so. </p>
<p>Do I recommend that all parents introduce their kids to alcohol? I guess not, it probably depends on the child and the parent and the way in which it is done. In this I agree with those (was it mini?) who say that what is true for an individual kid may not be true on a population level.</p>
<p>Honestly I think that when kids start drinking earlier such as highschool and they continue to do it, say almost every weekend then it becomes not such a huge deal. Although sure, they’ll go out when they’re in college and drink but they won’t feel like its something needed to do every chance available. I don’t think parents should let their children drink at early ages but on occasion possibly. Also they should teach them about drinking like lessons and such.</p>
<p>Do you agree that we hear much more about the dangers of alcohol today than back in the seventies (when I was in college)? I honestly can’t remember being taught about alcohol poisoning—that there is an amount of alcohol that will kill you. Just thought I’d pass out and have a really bad headache the next day, but don’t think I knew that I might not wake up at all.</p>
<p>Seems every year we sadly read about young kids–usually college-age, very often in the fall of the year–dying from alcohol poisoning. Don’t recall hearing about it when I was that age; maybe just oblivious. I’m thinking of groups like the Sam Spady foundation (samspadyfoundation.org). I sent for their wallet cards and included them in h.s. grad gifts this year. Maybe it’s common sense, but maybe not…</p>