What are parents whose kids drink in high school doing or thinking?

jf215
Wed, 31 May 2006 12:17:31 +0000

just wanted to share my $.02 on the subject.

kids at my school (suburban & affluent prep school) started drinking heavily & smoking around 6th grade (age 11-13). it began as an activity reserved for the “popular kids” on weekends, when someone’s mom/dad went out of town or something. as far as i know, no parents ever SUPPLIED their kids with alcohol, but i don’t doubt that many parents knew that drinking went on in their homes & did nothing to stop it (in the case of my school, i think parents let it slide because they didnt want to commit the social murder of their children by reporting illegal behavior).

however - what i am most concerned with is the mentality of parents on this forum, who claim their kids are “too busy” to drink or kids who “have friends that drink, but they dont”. i’m sorry, but this really seems like a manifestation of denial to me. no one wants to even entertain the notion that their kid involves themself in illegal or high-risk behavior, but people really need to be realistic about the situation. if theres one thing my high school social experience taught me, it was to never trust appearances. just because you THINK your kid doesnt drink, or because your kid TELLS you he/she doesn’t does not (by any means) make it true. in fact, some of the biggest drinkers/partiers at my school had angelic reputations with their families and told their parents elaborate lies to preserve them.

drinking is a MAJOR element of the social scene in high school, and I wholeheartedly agree with WTIDad’s assertion about self reported surveys about drinking.