If we as a people are going to decide that we will still allow drinking alcohol, we really should think about changing the way we handle it…
I think, if we are going to have legal alcohol, we should teach our youth how to drink it…
As it stands now, we tend to avoid the conversation all together when they are young, just that they need to wait until they are 21… which when they turn 21 or before they turn 21 and discover it, every generation is left to teach themselves how to handle alcohol… which leads to very bad habits, deaths, drinking and driving, alcoholism, binge drinking, rape, etc…
One of the other big things we need to get a handle on… is how when people discover drinking alcohol, they start to think the only way to have fun, is to be drunk…
What I think we should do, is maybe even as young as early teens, is start to teach kids how to drink, while at the same time, using it as leverage for good behavior…
Maybe it starts when they are young… they do well on their report card… you have some of their same sex friends and parents over and begin to teach them how to be social drinkers… (I am very much for chaperoned drinking, even through college)… You make sure they pace themselves and can talk and teach them about drinking while you do this…
Then one of the major things here, is then not allow them to drink for some time, their brains need to learn how to have fun without drinking again… It is important for the brain to learn to have a night of drinking, and then be fine without it for a period of time, or ever again for that matter… also important for the young adults to remember they can have fun without being drunk…
So, throughout their youth… little same sex parties sporadically as rewards for getting good grades and behaving, things like that…
Then as they get older, perhaps can start having chaperoned get togethers with members of the opposite sex… perhaps junior/senior year, having them a little more often after big school games and things like that…
I’m not even opposed to the prom allowing a drink or two at the dance…
Now I think this should be heavily involved with the police force… that parents should inform police when and where they will have little get togethers and what to expect… then police will know when there is an unsanctioned party going on… kids should still be busted for having their own parties in my opinion…
I am very much in favor of chaperoned parties though, even through college… alcohol and members of the opposite sex just don’t seem to mix very well, and that fact doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon… lots of bad decisions made and nights full of regrets…
I think you get the basic idea… I have thought about this for years… I used to go into much more detail… But I think this could be very important… Plus, parents get to kinda be cool in this scenario…
Parents may also be able to spot early if their child shows signs of being a problem drinker…
But, it definitely takes a community to make this work well… People should be telling cops about parties that aren’t sanctioned and things like that… I think if we all worked together, this could be good for many reasons…
I personally would have benefited greatly from some lessons in drinking… this is coming from someone that didn’t drink at all in high school… I think it would have been better if I was taught how to be a social drinker.
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