DR. WALLACE: You were quite brisk in your response to the parents who wanted to teach their son to be a reasonable social drinker of alcohol and who wanted to control his drinking by introducing alcohol to him at age 16, at home. You criticized their efforts to teach their son to drink responsibly. Isn't it better to teach their teen the right way to consume alcohol than for him to learn from his friends at parties and down dark alleys?
I have a son who is 13 and you can bet that I will introduce him to the taste of alcohol on his 16th birthday. My wife and I want him to learn how to enjoy alcohol without abusing it. Think about it! Aren't parents supposed to teach their children the correct way to live their lives? — Father, San Francisco, Ca.
FATHER: Parents who encourage their children to follow in their footsteps of "social drinking" stun me. Alcohol just happens to be the most used and abused drug in our country.
Space limits the negative aspects of alcohol consumption, but I'll share a few with you. According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), about 45,000 people in the United States are killed yearly in motor vehicle crashes and alcohol is a factor in at least 50 percent of these crashes, resulting in about 22,500 deaths. Alcohol causes health concerns for both heavy and even moderate drinkers. According to the Life Skills Education in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the earlier a child is introduced to alcohol, the better chance the child will become a problem drinker as an adult. The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information reported that the average age when boys first try alcohol is age 11, the girls, age 13, and the average age in which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years of age.
Parents are the greatest single influence on their child's drinking behavior. The correlation is high for parents who consume alcohol to have children that eventually will follow suit. The correlation is also high for parents to abstain from the use of alcohol to have children who will not drink. It is estimated that there are a minimum of 10 million alcoholics in the United States. The number of families destroyed by alcohol consumption is a national tragedy. In way too many cases, money that was needed for food, clothes, and shelter never came because the money was spent on alcohol.
You ask the question, "Aren't parents supposed to teach their children the correct way to live their lives?" The answer is a resounding yes! But introducing your son to alcohol when he becomes 16 is not the correct instruction.
Have the courage to eliminate using alcohol and chances are your son will follow your leadership. The money you will save can be put to good use for your son's education, or for helping those in your area who are less fortunate than you are.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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