THANK YOU! A study in USA shows that prohibiting alcohol by parents at home does not neccesserly lead to a concept of “forbidden fruit” and alcohol abuse by teenagers. The other way around – the more alcohol parents offer to their children – the more they drink and binge drink (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/ps-zta061009.php)
I am thankful for this study. I think it is important to make the adults aware of their impact. In spite of all the needs of independence and rebellion young people can experience, they are still influenced by the behaviour, opinions and attitudes of their parents and of adults in general.
Drinking alcohol at home to a Sunday meal having children at the table, celebrate birth of a child with alcohol, offer alcohol to children (just a little bit so they feel included) and the first thing to give the youngsters when they graduate a high school – just think a bit – what kind of message is that? What kind of behaviour does it foster? And what kind of consequences has that behaviuor?
No! Alcohol with all the harm it causes is not a thing to celebrate or to celebrate with. A new born child should not be welcome with a drug and a weapon. A freshly graduated student should not end up sleeping in a street or park next to own vommits. The town should not be full of beer cans after a friday evening. And a child should feel that s/he belongs to the family because of the way s/he is treated 24 hours a day 365 days a year and not because it gets to consume the same junk as the parents do.
Otherwise the celebration of life, success and relax becomes celebration of trash, violence, stupidity and lazyness and not rarely ends up in unconsciuos and death.
They say that youth is not responsible and reliable. But where is the responsibility of adults then when they pour alcohol into their childrens throats?
Not sure if you are familiar with the norwegian sociolog Willy Pedersen and his work. You should get his book. There is a summary here. In norwegian, but its almost as swedish
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http://www.forebygging.no/fhp/d_emneside/cf/hApp_101/hPKey_9489/hParent_581/hDKey_1
When it comes to what you are saying, especially the chapters –
Den kollektive drikkekulturen og Foreldre som langere is interesting.
Thank you Jan Tore =) I checked the summary. Sounds like smth I would like to read =)
Alcohol is a grown-ups problem.
The world we live in is designed to be for adults and their alcohol – not for the needs of young people: you are 17 and like to dance, party? You either go to the grown-ups parties and dance among alcohol (of course you will start drinking in order to “belong” there) or you stay at home – because you are not allowed to enter the party, since alcohol is served.
Why are goods – and alcohol is not even an ordinary one – prioritized higher than young people?