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NEW YORK, May 30 (UPI) -- Parents who drank or used drugs at their proms or graduations are likely to be more permissive toward their kids than those who didn't, a U.S. survey indicates.
The survey released by Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife Foundation indicates that among parents who drank or used drugs at their prom, 66 percent set a "zero tolerance policy" for their teens.
Sixteen percent of teens whose parents set a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol reported they were likely to use drugs or alcohol, while 45 percent of teens whose parents didn't set such boundaries reported they were likely to drink or use drugs at a prom or graduation party this year.
A few years ago I got into a heated online debate with parents who insisted that their own "laid back" approach to alcohol usage, allowing the kids to drink under parental supervision, would ensure that their kids would not be tempted to use drugs or alcohol when out with their peers. This study seems to disprove that assumption and give credence to my opinion that zero tolerance is the way to go.
Great post.
You know, when I went to school everyone drank or smoked pot, we had keg parties, partied at the beach, golf courses, people's homes when parents were there or went away for the weekend. In college we partied in the dorms, had fake id's, and all that. It's twenty something years later, and I can't believe half the stuff we did, and it puts the fear of god into me that my son will be a teen someday. I stopped drinking and what-not 11 years ago, and I know first hand how destructive drinking and drugs can be, but a lot of my friends went on to college and great jobs, and they did not have to stop drinking. So I don't know how I will handle it someday. I really don't.
On one hand I think it's great that people are so aware and intolerant of alcohol and drugs, on the other hand it's more of the forbidden fruit every day, so in a way kids are not being given the opportunities to learn to drink responsibly so that by the time that they have access to it, it's full on, not social.
There's faster cars made now, faster drugs, and drinking that has been marketed to the point that it's anything but social.
I just don't know.
Kids are going to find a way to drink and to use drugs if that is what they want to do, and if they have low self esteem to begin with, there is going to be a problem.
I guess it's up to parents to know this and to try to do the best for their kids when they are young, which simply means being present and being parents.
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