I don't have a problem with parents who allow their older teens to drink in the house. Like I said, I did and I gave the option to my own older girls who tried it but never developed a taste for it. But I cannot say definitively that it was due to an openness in the house with alcohol. And I can't say that because I did develop a taste for alcohol and I drank outside the house and did a lot of stupid stuff due to it. Not crazy or reckless, just stupid. The one good thing about my mother treating me like an adult overall (not just in regards to drinking) was that I became very aware of crazy and reckless teenage behavior and had a lot of disdain for it. Things don't change that much, lol.
But it's not safe to assume that your children won't go out and get drunk in uncontrolled environments because they were allowed to drink at home.
Nor do I imagine there are any positive correlations between drinking at home and the avoidance of binge drinking or alcoholism.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
Last edited by mixedmedia; 04-23-2008 at 08:34 AM..
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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