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Jean responds: Hi, My philosophy is that parents should not encourage their teens to do things the parents don't want them to do by approving or allowing those things when the parents don't have to. In other words, you couldn't keep him from bringing home vodka from Greece or drinking it there. You can't prevent him, either, from drinking behind your back. But you don't have to invite him to drink at the table, as if it were fine. It's illegal in most States until age 21. I know of nothing that suggests that kids who are allowed to drink beer and wine at dinner at home thereby become more responsible drinkers at college. You might want to pick up a copy of Sex, Drugs, and Flunking Out - which includes an excellent overall discussion of college and its hazards. Another one that came out just recently is The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids - In this one, the author comments that drinking a lot of alcohol can have a major impact on adolescent brains, much moreso than we'd thought. A book for your son might be Buzzed, The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs, from alcohol to ecstasy. Hope this helps to spur your thinking. Jean. Disclaimer: Ms. Walbridge's
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from a school trip from Greece with a full bottle of vodka in
his back pack. The drinking age is 16 there and we discussed
this before his departure. He is a great kid, who has been testing
his limits for a long time so this was not totally unexpected.
We basically talked about how dissapointed we were and that he
was in control of what he did with his life and that we were
nearly powerless to stop him from things like this if he really
wanted to do them. As far as we know this is the only time something
like this had occurred. My question is, should we let him drink
beer/wine with us at the table so that he can learn how to drink
responsibly before he goes off to college and has the freedom
to drink with his peers?