Letting kids drink in moderation ‘a risk’
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Some parents believe it is acceptable to let their teens drink with them PARENTS who allow their children to sip booze to prevent them from becoming drunks are probably increasing the risk of them abusing alcohol.
A recent study by the University of New South Wales of more than 1 700 adolescents found that parents of kids as young as 12 are allowed sips of alcoholic drinks at dinner, family gatherings and holidays, supposedly to protect them from unsupervised drinking.
The study found that “parents may be supplying sips of alcohol in [the belief] their child will be exposed to unsupervised alcohol use with their peers”. But they “may be prematurely introducing their children to a behaviour that may have marked risks”.
While the impact of kids drinking at home has not been documented in South Africa, experts believe that underage drinking has become common.
Studies on youth risk behaviour indicate that about half of pupils have consumed alcohol. The studies found that 20% to 25% of young people binge-drink — consuming five or more drinks in a few hours on one or more days.
Dr Leane Ramsoomar, of the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, said: “A wealth of previous research in international contexts shows that parents exert a strong influence on adolescents’ decision to drink. There is consensus that parental permissiveness and provision of alcohol is a risk rather than a protective factor.”
One mother admitted that she let her 15-year-old daughter have a few sips of wine “in a controlled environment”.
She said: “I allow her to consume a few sips when we have get-togethers or parties because I see it as a good solution. Alcohol is not a banned substance in our house, so our child will not do it behind our backs.”
Another mother permits her 17-year-old son to drink cider at home because his friends do.
“I decided it’s best he tries it under my roof and . . . my rules . . . I spelt it out that he can drink, but only during holidays. Trust is very important.”
Ramsoomar warned that allowing adolescents to sip alcohol “is likely to instil beliefs in children that parents approve of alcohol”.
Durban anti-drug and alcohol campaigner Sam Pillay said the rationale for parents allowing their kids to drink was “I’d rather my child drink with me than out with friends because he is safe with me”.
Pillay asked 60 12-year-olds if they had tasted alcohol. Fortyfive hands shot up. Some kids admitted that they had drunk alcohol with their parents.
South African Breweries, which has campaigns to address teen drinking, said that “taking the country’s legal framework, expert research and guidance, adolescents should not consume any amount of alcohol under any circumstances, not even under adult supervision”.
Clinical psychologist Claire O’Mahony said: “Exposing children to alcohol can be confusing to children who see their parents as role models.”