Quote:
Originally posted by valkyrie
You've said this a few times, but I still don't really understand it. Why would anybody expect someone's peers to teach him right from wrong, which it sounds like you're implying -- peers should be telling college students not to drink too much. Am I understanding correctly?
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Yes, you are understanding me correctly.
Also, please understand that I'm not trying to absolve parents from their (our) duty.
But, how well did you listen to your parents at that age? Who had the biggest influence on you -- your friends or your parents?
I grew up in a fundamentalist protestant family where drinking was absolutely forbidden. It didn't work.
How many parents try to educate their kids about pre-marital sex -- either to abstain or be safe? What's the teen pregnancy rate?
Going back to driver's ed -- I don't think many parents are teaching their kids to drag race or drive recklessly, but teen driving statistics are awful. (buy insurance for a boy under 25)
We are a drug free household, but still one of our three ended up in rehab. Hey, all the other jocks did it. The other two are drug free.
Just one more time for the record. I am not saying that people shouldn't drink. One more time, I believe the drinking age for beer should be lowered to 18. One more time, I understand the rights of passage for college aged students.
(But again, one more time, it is against the law as it now stands and is a serious Risk Management issue for our chapters.)
So, what I believe is that if given that college students will drink, no matter what their parents say, it is important that they somehow find some path to moderation. My experience (as a former person that age -- believe it or not we do remember -- and as the father of three) is that most students are more likely to listen to a voice of moderation that is their own age and from their peer group than from their parents.