Is drinking early the answer to stopping binge-drinking?
There was an article on CNN today about an author/psychologist who has a book coming out titled, “Addiction Proof Your Child.” In the book he claims that if you let your child drink early then you will cut down on their chances of binge-drinking later in life, because you will teach them to drink in moderation and take away the forbidden fruit. Here’s the article http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/09/27/kid.drinking/index.html trust me I would love to make that a creative little link, but my computer hates me!
Anyway the author of this book, Stanton Peele, reports that he let his daughter start drinking in moderation when she was in middle school. He says that this is the practice in a lot of other countries and it helps cut down on binge drinking. I have always thought about this. Binge-drinking is a huge problem in the U.S. it’s estimated that 7.2 million underage drinkers binge drink. I don’t know what the numbers are in other countries. But this article says it’s lower in Greece, Israel and Italy. I do believe some young people like this guy’s daughter may be ok with starting to drink in moderation early, but I don’t think it’s the practice for every person and I really don’t think it’s the way to Addiction Proof Your Child.
In my experience both in my own life and speaking to so many other people binge drinking is often a form of expression, before it’s an addiction. I got drunk for the first time when I was 11. It definitely wasn’t my parents giving me the alcohol, but even when I was allowed to start drinking at family functions around the age of 19 it definitely wasn’t just social. Yes people would say to me Ross stop it. Or Ross you’re cut off, but the fact was I binge drank for other reasons than addiction and I’m not alone. So I would love to read this book and agree with this guy, because I’m sure there are astute viewpoints and opinions on our culture, but unfortunately something as complex as addiction and binge-drinking can’t be summed up by start them off in moderation and they’ll be ok. Especially when so many young people have parents who don’t drink in moderation and grandparents who didn’t before them.
So keep this in mind if you’re binge drinking this weekend!
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