Why Parents Who Buy Their Kids Alcohol Are Fueling the Fire
A recent survey shows that nearly 40% of parents give their kids alcohol on holidays or when they are celebrating an end to an examination. More than half of the parents interviewed said they would give their 16 and 17 year old five or more bottles of spirits or wines for a week. 
Why?
Well, most parents who provide alcohol to their children say they do not want their kids getting the booze from unknown people. 36% say they think it is safer for the kids to get the alcohol from them rather than strangers. A further 22% believe that it makes it easier to track the amount of alcohol the kids consumed.
A number of parents are also introducing their kids to drinking as a “rite of passage.” To them, these kids are bound to drink later in life so they should be taught “safe drinking” from an early age.
Risks
What these parents fail to understand is that introduction to alcohol at such a tender age can have harmful effects on the kids life both in the present and in future. Research shows that young people who have always known that their parents disapprove of substance use are less likely to use alcohol and other drugs like tobacco, marijuana, and even the hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. On the contrary, those who drink with the permission and under the supervision of their parents are likely to remain users of drugs for a long time. Indeed, people who start drinking before they are 15 are up to five times more likely to become addicts compared to those who start drinking after 21.
These kids also face several health risks. Alcohol is directly to blame for memory loss and has adverse effects on long term thinking. Drinking also hampers hormonal balance which is critical for adolescents, a stage associated with enormous growth of organs, bones and muscles.
For kids, alcohol has often caused poor academic performance and engagement in risky behaviors such as unprotected sex, fights, self-harm, and even car wreckage.
Instead of giving alcohol to kids, parents should actually be helping their loved ones abstain from it.
Call 866-889-3665 to talk to a professional at Visions Teen Adolescent Treatment Centers for more information.
