Quote:
Originally posted by valkyrie
Exactly. I don't see what's so difficult about this concept. Teach your kids how to become reasonably responsible adults before they go to college -- this includes teaching them about drinking. Teaching kids about drinking is far more involved and complex than just saying "Don't do it!"
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The assumption here is that parent's understand control and limits when it comes to alcohol. American culture tends toward wanting, not restraint. Look at the size of our cars, houses, closets etc, we are not good at saying "I don't need". I'm not sure I believe that your average american parents truly understand limits and how to teach that to their children. Until we as an entire society can begin to understand this, there will always be problems.
One moment of culture shock was when I was visiting a German school... I must have been about 16 and they were celebrating the last day of school, sitting in their classroom (with the teacher) having your typical end of year party, except they had beer too. It was strange for me as an American to see it.
Another thing to keep in mind is the difference between beer and liquor. (correct me if I'm wrong) but there are different drinking ages for liquor vs beer.