Underage drinking
When we raised the drinking age to 21 we essentially removed parents from any legal involvement in teaching our children how to drink responsibility. We also removed legal establishments from serving and therefore monitoring alcohol consumption to anyone under 21.
So exactly how are teenagers suppose to learn about the affects of alcohol? Talking to them is fine, but we know kids learn more from what they see, not from what they are told. Do we really believe that magically when they turn 21 they will have the judgment and skills to begin drinking responsibly?
We know teenagers find access to alcohol and abuse it. Legally, parents can only talk to our children about the dangers of alcohol and tell plead with them not to drink. Restaurants and bars must deny service to those under 21. Where does this leave us? It leaves us with a situation where our teens are learning to drink and abuse from other teens who drink and abuse.
Alcohol will likely remain a legal substance for adults. Maybe its time to reintroduce parents and legal establishments into the equation of teaching responsible drinking by considering lowering the drinking age with strict guidelines of what, where, when and how instead of continuing this head in the sand approach of denying its use and letting parents off the hook.
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How right you are! I remember when I was drinking underage and driving how important it was to be carefull and not drink so much that I got pulled over. In the old days the first person to puke drove! Of course there was 3.2 beer then so we thought we could drink more of it to get the same buzz as 6.0 beer. Parents today just arent hitting the bottle with their kids like they used to. A sip of dads beer or two was common long ago. it put hair on their chest and got them to bed early.
Posted by Rich M on April 4, 2007 02:47 PMGood point Tony, seems to work pretty well in Europe, far lower rates of alcohol abuse on that side of the Atlantic.
Posted by on April 5, 2007 07:15 AMHow about raising the driving age to 21.Problem solved.
Posted by Can I get a Amen! on April 5, 2007 07:38 AMNot really, the subject is responsible drinking, not drinking and driving Can I get a Amen!
Posted by on April 5, 2007 07:46 AMCan I get a Amen:
Do you like people dying, or why would you try to make learning to drive and learning to drink occur at the same time and WITHOUT any parental supervision????
You can't shelter adolescents into becoming adults... you can guide them though.
Yep, teens learn from watching the people around them. Mom and dads smoke pot, pop pills, drink like fish, snort cocaine, do meth and on and on and on.
Yes sir those teens learn quickly don't they?
Ah, yes I can see it now. The class every high school student us dying to get into , Responsible Drinking 101.
What is wrong with teaching your children not to drink?You tell them not to smoke and tobacco is legal so why is drinking alcohol different than tobacco,they are both legal substances.Both alter your mind.Both are addictive.Both are bad for you. Both will kill you.
Teaching your child to drink is the most assinine thing I have ever heard.
I guess there will be a run on breathalizers,so parents can teach their children at home how many drinks per hour with or without food they can drink before getting in their car and driving. The goal is to let them drink but make sure they blow under .08 so they will stay under the legal limit when they and their friends run into someone and kill people.
I guess it is now the responsible thing to do as parents is to teach your inexperienced drivers to drink responsibly,what a combination.
I can see we now live in a society where instead of parenting now we will have drinking buddies.There is nothing like a nice bottle of wine to bring the kids and parents together at the dinner table.Does macaroni and cheese go with red or white?
"Teaching your child to drink is the most assinine thing I have ever heard."
Damn asinine Europeans.
Posted by on April 6, 2007 07:42 AM