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So What's Wrong With a Few Drinks?
By Tamar Weiss
Dr. Lipschitz says parents must "orient their children how to behave with alcohol." He notes that parents need to talk to kids about drugs and alcohol, but it is crucial for them to first be prepared for the conversation.
- Understand what sort of enticements and pressures affect your children. Realize that they're not the same as when you were growing up.
- Talk to teachers and school counselors. They observe kids everyday and have a pretty good understanding of what it's like to be a preteenager.
- Start the discussions early. That means that you should start now, if you haven't already. Kids will be faced with some tough decisions once they reach the teenage years, and early preparation will help later.
School psychologist Hillel Khur emphatically says that aside from giving your kids the hard facts about drugs and alcohol, one of the points to stress when discussing the topic is that alcohol should never be turned to as a way to solve or forget problems. If any parent receives an indication that their child is doing this or ever has, it's a warning sign that counseling is necessary.
Death and injury as a result of dangerous experimentation with alcohol are far too common. And yet teenagers at some point will most likely be in situations where alcohol is available or being offered to them. The bottom line is that no matter what the rule is at home, teens must be in the know about alcohol and its affects. And whatever benefit might be gained through supervised experimentation, the experts tend to agree that the best way to raise a responsible child is to keep him away from alcohol altogether.
