Bad Parent: Booze Clues
Why I let my kids drink.
by Gretchen Roberts
April 30, 2008
Nationwide, Americans succumb to extremes, and to excess. We weigh the spectrum from morbidly obese to morbidly anorexic. We eat fast food every day, or only locally-grown, organic fare. We binge drink, or we abstain altogether.
Our country has a stormy history with alcoholic beverages, from the saloons of the Wild West to the bootlegging of Prohibition. Even now, the tenuous post-Prohibition ceasefire still harbors a deep-seated horror of alcohol in general (witness the absurd blue laws), and a special fear of exposing our children to alcohol.
This self-righteous attitude is a touchy trigger for adolescent binge-drinking. Throughout history, children have been inexplicably drawn to the forbidden. When they hear all their lives (while we're feeding them Oreos, Goldfish, and hot dogs) that alcohol is one of the very worst things you can put into your system , they quite naturally want to try it out for themselves. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Organization, 10.1 million twelve-to-twenty-year-olds use alcohol, and almost half of those binge-drink.
In another recent report on binge drinking, British psychology professor Adrian Furnham suggests that parents play the central and the most powerful role in establishing drinking patterns in their children.
Since they were tiny, our children have taken sips as we teach them the difference between Prosecco and Champagne.
Parents usually plant their feet firmly in one camp or another, either forbidding alcohol altogether and preaching its perniciousness, or throwing parties in their own home for teenagers, figuring they're going to drink anyway, so let's not let them drive.
I have chosen a different path for my kids, one that winds through center camp.
I write about food and wine for a living. Because of my work, I know a glass a day for a woman, and two glasses for a man, is considered a healthy amount that helps ward off heart disease and a host of other health problems. Because of my work, I also regard wine as a food, as generations of Europeans have done. And I see it as best enjoyed at the table as a compliment to the meal.
When five o'clock rolls around, I pour a Vouvray to sip while chopping ingredients for supper. Since they were tiny, our children have watched their parents enjoy a mealtime glass, and even taken sips for themselves as we teach them the difference between Prosecco and Champagne, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir. (Sophia is partial to reds, I'm proud to note, and both girls love to clink glasses together in a "cheers" and to try to master the swirl of liquid around the glass.)
©2008 Gretchen Roberts and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Gretchen Roberts writes about food and wine for Wine Enthusiast, Cooking Light, Better Homes and Gardens, and Health. Visit her website at www.gretchenroberts.net. |
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