Sunday, September 30, 2007
How fun is toothpaste in your ear, anyway?
by Anna Karlsson, [X]press Online
CNN.com published an article on September 28 concerning underage drinking and the impacts of parental supervision when a minor is introduced to alcohol. Several sources claimed that if the parents teach their children to drink moderately during social gatherings, they're less likely to binge drink later on.
Of course this is true. It's true for everything a parent can teach their child. Being from a European country myself, where the drinking age is lower and social rules more relaxed, I thought this was interesting because it's so ingrained in the American culture to abstain from virtually everything if you're under the age of 21. The social rules in this country are so strong -- if you don't go to college right after high school something is wrong with you or if you're unmarried by the time you're 30 you're obviously a social deviant.
The topic isn't just applicable for drinking; it's applicable in every aspect of “the coming of age.” There are things that most teenagers will do no matter what anybody tells them: have sex, drink alcohol, and probably try some drugs. If American parents wouldn't be such sticklers about these inevitable rites of passages, they could be handled a lot better.
The main source in the CNN.com article, Anna Peele, 19, was allowed to drink a little bit of wine together with her parents from the time she was 14. She says she learned how to deal with alcohol that way. She was informed about alcohol by her parents and that "education" changed her views and possible desire to binge drink in college.
That's the message that should be sent out. Inform your kid and be honest about what's going on and they'll learn to handle themselves. Teach your teenager about safe-sex and birth control instead of abstinence and you're less likely to have a teen pregnancy on your hands. Teach your kid about drinking and they won't become the booze bragger at the frat party who "totally did 13 tequila shots at the dorm" and woke up with toothpaste in his ear.
CNN.com published an article on September 28 concerning underage drinking and the impacts of parental supervision when a minor is introduced to alcohol. Several sources claimed that if the parents teach their children to drink moderately during social gatherings, they're less likely to binge drink later on.
Of course this is true. It's true for everything a parent can teach their child. Being from a European country myself, where the drinking age is lower and social rules more relaxed, I thought this was interesting because it's so ingrained in the American culture to abstain from virtually everything if you're under the age of 21. The social rules in this country are so strong -- if you don't go to college right after high school something is wrong with you or if you're unmarried by the time you're 30 you're obviously a social deviant.
The topic isn't just applicable for drinking; it's applicable in every aspect of “the coming of age.” There are things that most teenagers will do no matter what anybody tells them: have sex, drink alcohol, and probably try some drugs. If American parents wouldn't be such sticklers about these inevitable rites of passages, they could be handled a lot better.
The main source in the CNN.com article, Anna Peele, 19, was allowed to drink a little bit of wine together with her parents from the time she was 14. She says she learned how to deal with alcohol that way. She was informed about alcohol by her parents and that "education" changed her views and possible desire to binge drink in college.
That's the message that should be sent out. Inform your kid and be honest about what's going on and they'll learn to handle themselves. Teach your teenager about safe-sex and birth control instead of abstinence and you're less likely to have a teen pregnancy on your hands. Teach your kid about drinking and they won't become the booze bragger at the frat party who "totally did 13 tequila shots at the dorm" and woke up with toothpaste in his ear.
# posted by [X]press Staff @ 12:42 PM 