Reply to 16 DS wants to try alcohol

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it's a good idea for kids to sample alcohol at home under parental supervision, and NOT in a party setting, if it's accompanied by education on the short-term and long-term deleterious effects of alcohol. We're French and over there you can drink wine and beer if you're 16. In practice, kids are given sips at home no matter the age at family gatherings. Making alcohol a forbidden fruit concept tends to work against you in the long run.

We rarely drink, and my teens and young adults don't really like the taste of alcohol, but know what it is.[/quote]

Me again, refining my thinking a bit. I realize my family has never hyped alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress, or celebratory obligation. 
Perhaps the way parents and role models frame alcohol is the biggest predictor of how kids perceive it. Don't say, at the end of a particularly difficult day, "Well now Mommy needs her wine!" or approximations thereof. Don't suggest that a party isn't a party if there's no alcohol, like many on this site do. It sets up your children to fail at moderation.

And if there's alcoholism in your kids' close relatives, then obviously the conversation needs to center around that. There is an association between untreated ADHD and addictions of all kinds, because patients attempt to self-medicate their symptoms. If your kid has ADHD, like one of mine does, they are more at risk for addictive behaviors. Medically supervised use of their medication will dampen the need for non-prescription drugs and alcohol.[/quote]

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