He sits on a high stool with some friends at the local bar while celebrating his 21st birthday. All of his friends are buying shots left and right; but he’s just sitting there, having a drink every 30 minutes or so. His friends gawk at him and ask, “What is wrong with you man? It's your birthday. Loosen up, have some fun!” The young man turns to his friends and points to his buddy, who is lying there passed out drunk in the booth, and says, “That’s why. I know my limits man.” It’s because he was allowed to drink at home with his parents, where he could be taught how to handle alcohol responsibly, that this young man didn’t become just another 21st-birthday-nightmare story. Unfortunately, too many college students go a bit wild once they are …show more content…
According to the CDC, “in 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency room visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol” (CDC 2016). If parents were able to take the time to teach their children what alcohols are stronger than others, and how to drink in moderation, they could tell their teens what to do in the event that they do end up drinking more than they should. According to one public health scientist, “in parts of the Western world, moderate drinking by teenagers and even children under their parents' supervision is a given. Though the per capita consumption of alcohol in France, Spain and Portugal is higher than in the United States, the rate of alcoholism and alcohol abuse is lower. A glass of wine at dinner is normal practice. Kids learn to regard moderate drinking as an enjoyable family activity rather than as something they have to sneak away to do. Banning drinking by young people makes it a badge of adulthood—a tantalizing forbidden fruit” (Whelan 1995). Therefore, if parents were allowed to remove the mysterious allure of alcohol from their teenagers, alcoholism would