How to teach your kids to drink responsibly: make them wait until they’re 21

 

 

Many parents believe that allowing their teens to drink under supervision will create more responsible alcohol consumers. However, recent studies have proved this line of thought to be wrong. Parents who “teach” their kids to drink, in fact, do just that. They teach and, unfortunately, prompt their teens to adopt a practice of drinking, and usually not in a very healthy manner.

An American Medical Association study, looking at both Australian and American middle schoolers, found that those teens that had begun drinking with parental supervision were more likely to have engaged in risky behavior or experienced health related issues due to the overconsumption of alcohol. Another AMA study reported data suggesting that teens with parents who condone supervised underage drinking are more likely to have trouble with alcoholism or alcohol abuse later on in life.

Because the brain is still developing into the twenties, alcohol affects teens in a much more pronounced way than it does adults. Therefore, health and research professionals encourage parents to firmly prevent their teen from drinking until the age of 21.

This, however, does not necessitate a complete ban on any alcohol in the house. The most effective action parents can take in forming responsible alcohol consumers is to model moderate drinking behaviours themselves. So go ahead and have that glass of wine with dinner, but maybe just one.

This information is taken from the NBC article “Letting teen drink under parent’s watch backfires.” To read the full article you can go to the following link: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42807670/ns/health-childrens_health/t/letting-teen#.Vh5TJk2FPIV.