<p>The thread on the Parent Forum about colleges’ “alcohol policies” had a lot of discussion about the general topic of alcohol consumption by college students, which I know isn’t what the OP really was posting about. But it got me wondering, what are your thoughts on parents “teaching” their kids to drink responsibly before they go off to college.</p>
<p>My husband and I both felt very strongly that our kids would pretty definitely be consuming alcohol when they were living away from home at college. It was just a matter of how much and in what manner. We really did do our best to be sure they were prepared to handle the situation when they faced it.</p>
<p>The first rule we had was simple: NO SLEEPING OUT OF THE HOUSE</p>
<p>Basically, if they were going to drink, they were not going to do it without our knowing about it. With our son, I consider ourselves lucky that one night (in his sophomore year), he went out, and then made the brilliant decision to text us to ask if he could stay over a friend’s house. Of course, the answer was “no”, and when my husband picked him up, not only was he super, sloppy drunk, but the mother was at the front door looking quite sheepish. (Yea – I was really ticked at her, but I figure she’s got bigger problems than my anger if she’s allowing this to go on at her house.)</p>
<p>We got him home, and he slept it off (with us checking on him all night to be sure he was ok) The next day the kid was mortified. We had a very serious heart-to-heart, and he was extremely and genuinely remorseful. He spent most of the day on the couch, feeling lousy, hung-over, and actually getting physically sick. He felt badly that he had disappointed us and I think he realized how frightened we were by the fact that it really was a dangerous situation. His father was the one checking on him all night to be sure he didn’t vomit or in some other way harm himself. It was a painful lesson for him, but we didn’t think that this one incident would make him swear off alcohol for life. We still felt he needed to learn how to drink responsibly before college.</p>
<p>Fast forward to his senior year in h.s. We decided that it would be best if he did any drinking at all, it would be in a controlled situation (controlled by us.) Basically what that meant was allowing him to have a couple of beers at family functions where there might normally be alcohol served (family get-togethers, parties, vacations, things like that.) And it didn’t mean letting him get sloppy drunk – which he really didn’t have a desire to do. Basically, he was drinking in places and at times where we were there to be sure he was safe. No driving involved (EVER), no dangerous situations. This wasn’t happening every weekend or anything. Just once in a while when a situation presented itself. If he went to a h.s. party (and he didn’t do that very often), he would limit himself to maybe one beer (because he knew that we’d be wide awake and ready for lots of conversation when he got home.) And again, never ANY driving involved – we’d always pick him up if necessary.</p>
<p>So now he’s off at college and he tells me there is lots of alcohol available. He’s very capable and very content to go to a party and have a few beers. There’s nothing forbidden about it to him, so it’s not that enticing. He knows how to pace himself. He also remembers (painfully) how horrible it is to over-indulge.</p>
<p>Of course I’m not crazy enough to think that I have some type of guarantee that my son is NEVER going to get stupid drunk at college. But I do feel that the way we’ve handled it was the best way for our son. Obviously, every kid and every circumstance is different. </p>
<p>Anyone else out there agree that it’s a good idea to teach your kids to drink responsibly before college, or am I alone on this?</p>