The American Medical Association released results of a study indicating a trend that the AMA calls “disturbing.” From the press release, “...about one out of four U.S. parents with children, aged 12-20 (26 percent), agree that teens should be able to drink at home with their parents present.” Consequently, “Nearly one in four teens, aged 13-18, and one in three girls, aged 16-18, say their own parents have supplied them with alcohol....” Medical professionals are obviously discouraging this practice, but then there is the practical angle:  what if you have a teenager who you know will leave home to attend college, and you want to make sure they understand how to use alcohol responsibly when they are on their own?  Having attended a large college, I remember how alcohol use was rampant at parties, and many of the kids felt that they were really showing defiance by drinking.  If parents expose the kids to alcohol beforehand in responsible ways, it isn’t so much of a mystery.  This wouldn’t work for every family, and everyone needs to assess their own situation, but I can see some terrific parents thinking this way.  Obviously, I’m not encouraging heavy alcohol use among families, because that introduces other negative dynamics, but is it possible for parents to teach their children responsible drinking in the home before the kid gets into a peer situation?

In my opinion, the most alarming statistic in this article is “Two out of three teens, aged 13-18, said it is easy to get alcohol from their homes without parents knowing about it.” To me this means that parents are not running their households and checking on their kids as they need to be.  How hard is it to check your liquor cabinet once in awhile, especially if you know you have a problem?

Underage drinking is a tough issue, whether parent-sponsored or not.  Colleges are doing a fantastic job these days in their efforts to discourage heavy alcohol use on campuses, and I can only hope that they keep up the good work by the time my kids are ready for college.  It is not like when I went to school, and I was the weirdo for not drinking at university parties.  The AMA has pulled together some great statistics to help us understand the trends.  Now we each need to look beyond the numbers and figure out if these findings are inherently bad, and ultimately, how we want to handle the issue in our own homes.