Should You Drink With Your Kids?
Parents are frequently encouraged to share more activities with their kids. But should drinking alcohol together be one of them?
“I was 14 the first time I got falling down drunk”, Time Magazine reporter John Cloud admits in a recent article examining underage drinking. Back then, Cloud says, such antics were viewed as a “right of passage.” Today, however, an increase in the number of young hard-core drinkers has heightened concern. So is it time for parents to take a different approach toward kids and alcohol?
“At first it sounds a little nutty,” Cloud says, “but you might consider drinking with your kids.”
Drinking with your kids at home, Cloud writes—which he cautions is not the same as buying them alcohol for a party—is “a good way to teach responsible drinking behavior.”
The idea is to present alcohol not as an “alluring risk,” but as part of ordinary family life.
Addiction expert and psychologist Stanton Peele says he started giving his daughter “a few sips” of alcohol as a child at family meals. The key, Peele says, is not to make “a big deal about it.” When the girl turned 16, she was allowed to have a full glass of whatever the adults were drinking. “A second glass probably doesn’t make sense,” Peele explained, “but making hard-and-fast rules creates the sense that alcohol is some magical potion.”
But for many families, “demystifying” alcohol by consuming it with their teenagers may produce a parenting hang-over. And there is additional concern that alcohol could hurt teens’ developing brains.
Tell us what you think: Can parents teach responsibility by drinking with their kids?
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AWSOMNESS
Hey wha’s up !!!!!!!!!!!!? ;D
dgfds | 5 months ago
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KIds will be kids
This article isn’t saying to just give them alchohal its to teach them how to be have and not let them think its something that just everybody deos at some highschool party. drinking with your parents is how you can end up better off rather than ending up in some hospital getting your stumick pumped because you drank way to much!!
Wisconsin | 4 months, 3 weeks ago
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I agree
You have a very good point on what you are saying it is a good idea for kids to be taught the right way and have good parental help or see how its right!! Don’t Drink and drive and dont drink to much.
Clayton | 4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Should Parents Allow Alcohol Drinking For Their Ch
I feel that parents should think twice before letting their children drink alcoholic beverages, The huma brain does not stop devoloping until the age of about 25 . Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory are all effects of alcohol. A lot of children become addicted to the feeling. However, the decision is totally up to the parents of the children, if they are doing it at home they are more than likely to attempt drinkig with their peers if it is avaliable.
Senior of WYHS | 4 months, 3 weeks ago
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agree
As a 19 year old kid and freshman in college, I would like to say that I actually agree with this article. I know to many parents, it might sound absurd to be breaking the law by giving your kids alcohol. But realistically, I think that kids today who want to drink, will find a way, even if they are not of legal age. And if they have not been taught how to drink responsibly (which other peers will certainly not teach your kid) then they will proceed to drink to excess. I’ve seen kids since I’ve been at college, been rushed out in ambulances because they don’t know how to control their limits and drink responsibly. And even at home, if they know they’re parents are so strictly against drinking, they will find ways to do so outside home, and maybe not being as safe about it, including drinking and driving. I completely agree with the fact that kids tend to want what seems forbidden. I believe this is why in many other cultures, alcohol is apart of everyday life and age limits on alcohol are not as high as 21. Where wine is served at a family dinner in many other cultures – drinking is not as big of a deal and issues such as alcoholism and drunk-driving incidents likewise are not as common.
I’m not telling parents they should let their kids drink whatever and how much they want, but I think it is important that parents talk to their kids about drinking and if they are interested in trying it – don’t make it such a big deal, let them try a little bit under your supervision only. It may help them later on to make smart decisions about drinking.
Caitlin O'Neil | 4 months, 2 weeks ago
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underage drinking
children learn things and copy things from their parents so drinking responsibly will have a good affect on your children. but also children learn bad influences from their friends and environment were they live in and the society.
jade horrocks | 4 months ago
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Yall are stupid
Im fifteen and i seriosly have no idea why you would want to drink with your kid just tell them its bad you dont want them to get the taste
Kaitylin Nicole | 4 months ago
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speaking as a teen my self...
as a teen i know that i drink every now and then…i’m not gona lie bout that but parents should not give there children alcohol because they could go to jail.It’s not right for a parent to give there child alcohol.Parents should teach there children proper responsibility with it.spesial ocations iz tha only time my parents have ever let me drink.They did not give me the alcohol.I had one glass and it is always a very small glass.You might say well if they didnt give you it then how did you get it.but what i mean by not giving them alcohl i mean not on an every day bacis.Christmas,new years,thanksgiving those are tha only times i hav one galss of wine or something like that.i have never been drunk be for and i dnt ever plane on it.my family has a lot of alcoholics and i dont plan on becoming that way.I’v seen what it dose to people and i know that i dnt want that kind of life.thats just my point of view….i might be a teen but only a teen can tell u how a teen feels about it.
Michelle Elaine | 4 months ago
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NOT AT ALLL
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
maya gins | 3 months, 4 weeks ago
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Youre wrong
In many states it is Legal for children, no matter how old they are, to drink within the safety of their own home, as long as the parents are there, consent, and it is only their child that is drinking.
Boone Johnson | 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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