I saw a You Tube video the other day with a message that underage drinking is an
adult problem (
SAMHSA YouTube Video). There was a statement in this video that 1 in 5 children had their first taste of alcohol before they were 13 years old. The message from SAMHSA is that early alcohol use is harmful to a child's development which is certainly a widely held belief among physicians and researchers. With nearly 50 percent of children who try alcohol before the age 13 getting it from their adult relatives, this is a clearly major problem in America today. That is a very important message but not what caught my eye.
What came to my mind was that alcohol is clearly an acquired taste. Seriously, alcohol generally tastes gross. For someone to get to the point of abusing alcohol, they have to first get beyond the foul flavor of the drink, especially the after taste. Therefore, my concern with children get alcohol at an early age, even a sip, is that the process of "acquiring the taste" begins with that very first sip. Nobody that I know truly likes the taste of alcohol the first time they try it any more than the first time somebody smokes a cigarette that hey find it enjoyable. What actually happens is that the person pushes through the taste or discomfort for other reasons. Typically, these reasons tend to be to impress or be like others. For the child getting alcohol from a parent or other older relative, the motive is probably the desire to be like the person they admire like mom and dad. Since their hero likes it they keep trying it until they do too, sort of.
Here is my advice ... If you are having a party and your children are present, it would behoove your child for there to be no alcohol present. If that is too much to ask of you, at least refrain from allowing your child to "try a sip" of an adult beverage. It is also imperative that you monitor any alcohol in your house to ensure children are not trying to imitate you while your back is turned. Better yet, just do not keep alcohol in your house to keep it out of the hands of developing minds.
You owe it to your child to help them grow up to be healthy adults that can make their own decisions. Step up and be a real parent by making responsible decisions along the way.
