Teens and drinking

CNN: Let teens drink? Parents wrestle with the question

One of the biggest debates of this age is that of the drinking age.  It has been fiercely debated from both sides of the aisle, with no changes made during the entire discourse.  The article focuses on the views of a few parents, some of whom have had very personal experiences regarding underage drinking.

The issue of alcohol abuse is prevalent in all age groups, not just teens/young adults.  A few years ago a neighbor of mine (whose children were my age) died due to alcohol poisoning.  It was a very tragic thing for the whole community, as she was very well-known and liked, but I think it does reflect the widespread issues involved in the whole debate.  Yes, teens are statistically the group most likely to have alcohol-related deaths, but they certainly aren't the only ones dying.  In any age group, young or old, control is the issue.  If people can't control what or how much or how often they're drinking, eventually there's going to be a serious issue.

I found some of the cases in the story interesting, particularly that of Debbie Taylor, whose son Casey died of alcohol poisoning.  Ms. Taylor stated that she told her son not to drink underage, but if he did, not to drive.  Quite honestly, she didn't do anything wrong there (although she feels she did).  To think that forbidding her younger son to drink underage was what made him not do it, I think she needs to rethink that.  The fact that his older brother died of alcohol poisoning was probably the largest factor in him holding off drinking- not simply the fact that she said no.

Sadly, I feel as though that's the place where parents are putting all of their emphasis and think that just that alone will work, in particular MADD.  More important than being strict with your children is being open with your children.  My family, although very open about drinking at home or with relatives, were (like most parents) concerned about my brothers in particular going out and drinking while underaged.  Instead of 'banning' them from drinking alcohol, they instead very strictly laid out that if they were to go out and get drunk, they should call home for a ride at any time.

While my parents certainly didn't want my brothers to go drinking in high school, they understood the realities of the situation and laid down rules from there.  A child whose parents strictly say 'no alcohol' is a lot more likely to get in the car with a drunk driver (or drive themself) than a child whose parents ask them to call.  Sheri Reed, another parent from the article, got it right.  A recovering alcoholic herself, she knows the realities that she won't be able to prevent her children from drinking before 21.  Instead, her plan seems to consist of being open with her children, which can allow for a healthy dialogue between parent and child.

One of the employees where I went to college who was close to a lot of students always made it clear to anyone that they could call her whenever if they ever needed a ride while drunk.  And students actually have called her, and she shows up.  A cousin of one of my college roommates always calls her whenever she's been out drinking and needs a ride.  Knowing that there is someone who will come and take care of you is much better than getting drunk and making stupid decisions.

Honestly, I feel like many of these organizations against teen drinking are just ridiculous and are trying to take us back towards Prohibition (which, duh, didn't work).  For every study that says having the drinking age at 21 has saved lives, another one says that hasn't.  The research-based debate (and much of that is by people who don't actually understand the research) is so convoluted that it seems as though there is no one real answer.  Hopefully someday soon the country will grow up and realize that drinking alcohol and teaching people how to enjoy it responsibly is not the end of the world.

And of course, all through this nothing has been mentioned of the fact that the U.S. government's actions regarding the drinking age is pretty unconstitutional, although they did manage to weasel through a loophole to do it.