The Alcohol Conundrum – All or Nothing?

February 13th, 2009 by Sue Blaney

An interesting discussion about teaching teens about alcohol use caught my eye over at Lisa Belken’s MotherLode at the NYTImes. Catch this from the comments:

“…I have relatives who go out of their way not to drink. They are “holistic purists” and their son developed a drinking problem at 16. They were in denial when I told them that their house was the “After-School Party Place”. And when they started finding the stashes of vodka bottles and beer cans… they started to realize there was a problem. Now they let him party all he wants and I ask them if they feel uncomfortable about what’s going on at their house when their not there. They say it’s normal teen behavior and that he’s “responsible”.

This seems so ironic to me and I worry about their son.”

This all-or-nothing approach strikes me as irresponsible, to say the least. Their “holistic purist” attitude may be dangerously ineffective with a teen who prefers experimentation and life in the fast lane, but giving a teen like this complete free rein is a cop out. These parents must not be aware of these facts:

In our entire population, alcohol dependence rates are highest among 18 – 20 year olds.

Teenagers who have started drinking by age 15 are four times as likely to become dependent on alcohol as people who begin at 21.

Those two reasons alone should be enough to make parents intervene and apply some reason and good judgment. Teens like the one in this story don’t seem to be able to show good judgment himself, so wouldn’t a caring and tuned-in parent want to apply more influence?

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Parenting Teens, Risky Behavior, Teens: Alcohol & Drugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.