Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Louise Pennington: Teenage Pregnancy, Patriarchal Hypocrisy and…
'Rules Of Engagement' 100th Episode Series Finale
Honey, I Served the Kids: Parents Buying Booze for Teens, Study Finds
Filed under: In The News, Alcohol & Drugs, Research Reveals: Teens
Go ahead and party, kids! Mom will bring the beer. Credit: Getty
When today's generation of parents of teens was in high school, booze was locked up in a liquor cabinet, kids were told to stay out of it and parents left education about the dangers of excessive drinking to school programs that touted total abstinence.
Of course, teens ignored the warnings, sneaked in anyway, and sipped off bottles of whiskey and rum.
Now, some parents have a new approach to keeping their kids from getting wasted: They buy the booze for them. This less-than-zero-tolerance approach makes sense, the thinking goes, if you take their car keys away and let the under-aged drinkers chug away on the home front.
At least, that's the finding in a new report that shows among American teens aged 12 to 14 who report drinking alcohol, nearly 30 percent were served by their folks or another adult in the clan, according to a press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
About 6 percent of the U.S. population in that age group say they have had at least one alcoholic drink in the last month, the study finds. The statistics were taken from the National Household Surveys on Drug Use and Health, conducted from 2006 to 2009, and involving responses from 44,000 young teens.
"People who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are six times more likely than those who start at age 21 and older to develop alcohol problems," SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde says in the release. "Parents and other adults need to be aware that providing alcohol to children can expose them to an increased risk for alcohol abuse and set them on a path with increased potential for addiction."
However, Time magazine reports, when parents drink with their kids "at dinner or in a religious context," research has found an association with lower levels of alcohol problems.
In 2004, according to Time, a study examined data from more than 6,000 people across the country. Teens who drank with their parents were about half as likely to have consumed alcohol in the previous month and about one-third less likely to have engaged in binge drinking in the previous two weeks, compared with teens who drank without parental approval.
Want to get the latest ParentDish news and advice? Sign up for our newsletter!
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
How to Help Your Teen Through Puberty
Parents may groan at the thought of their children reaching puberty, but it's no picnic for the kids, either. Carol Weston has written two books about girls and is the longtime advice columnist for Girls' Life magazine. Here's her advice on how parents can help their teens through puberty.
-
Joseph A. Califano Jr. Talks About How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid
Califano's new guide is designed to help parents get their kids through the formative pre-teen, teen, and college years drug-free.
-
Texting Tips For Parents
Texting is now the main way teens socialize with friends, check in with mom and dad, and share content. But for parents, dealing with text-happy kids can sometimes be a challenge. Get tips on how to keep your kids' texting under control.
-
Texting Tips For Parents
Texting is now the main way teens socialize with friends, check in with mom and dad, and share content. But for parents, dealing with text-happy kids can sometimes be a challenge. Get tips on how to keep your kids' texting under control.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
2-22-2011 @ 4:39PM
Alicia said...When this generation of parents were teens, 18 was the legal drinking age, too. Honestly, my family strongly believes that if you can die for your country, you should be allowed to drink, so yeah. I have freedom to open the liquor cabinet whenever I want now. When 16+, I could drink, but only at large family dinners and never more than one. My family certainly wasn't serving my friends. I think there's a point to which this works and a point where is stops doing any good. Because alcohol was not a taboo in my house, I never drank to excess (until I got to Ireland, where my friends decided it'd be funny to find out what it was like if I was drunk). Letting your kid and their friends get smashed in your house won't do much good and letting kids drink very young won't do much good, either, I don't think.
Reply
2-22-2011 @ 8:30PM
dougalcandy said...My parents always let us have a sip of whatever they were drinking at a family party. I had my first real drink at 15, also at a family party, where my uncle asked my parents permission to make me a whiskey sour. I agree that when alcohol is not taboo in the house, it loses its magic. Never drank to excess in HS or college. My extended family likes their wine, but not an alcoholic in the bunch. I have done the same with my daughter and even offered her her first vodka shot (we're Russian) at her HS graduation party. She hated it! I would, however, NEVER offer alchohol to any of her friends, unless their parents were present and Ok'd it.
Reply
2-23-2011 @ 11:40AM
rgk02 said...Down side is an irresponsible parent that provides them with an all out party rather than a few "sips". Family gatherings, sips of wine, ok, I'll go with that, but when it turns into shots and drinking games, I draw the line. I had similar upbringing in which we were given some wine, cut with some ginger ale or sprite, but we DID have a lot of alcoholics in our family. My ex was doing shots with our 12 and 13 year old and providing hard liquor for my 19 year old and his friends on an all too regular basis and now faces criminal charges---and that's what giving alcohol to minors is--a criminal charge. 18, fine. they are adults (assumed adults at that time). Lower the drinking age to that, but I say anything younger than that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Reply