Seen and Heard
No Cheers Here
Study finds underage kids get alcohol from adults
-Mary Beth Sammons
Banish your ideas of street-corner "here's a couple bucks, buy us a case of beer" ways that your teens are snagging cases of beer.
Guess again. It's you, me and our adult peers who are feeding the teen drinking frenzy, so says the most recent government study.
Cheers, or not, for this study opening our eyes - and for removing the "not my kids and their friends, or their friends' parents" rose-colored glasses. The study found that the nation's estimated 10.6 million underage drinkers are turning to their parents or other adults for alcohol. Apparently, more than half of teens are drinking. And 40 percent said they get it from you - yep, you, meaning their moms and dads, Auntie Mames, friends' parents, adult siblings and other auxiliary adults in their lives.
As a mom who has made the parental political mistake of calling other parents to ask whether there would be alcohol at an event, if parents would be present or not at the "it's not a party, Mom" events my three teens were attending, all I can say is that it's a sobering reality show at what goes on behind-the-scenes in the lives of our kids. Many of my queries have been answered with "Well, they are going to drink somewhere, and it is safer here. "
So, all I can say is good luck trying to keep your teens from drinking. You're a lone ranger on the parental front. Just check in with these folks at CNN who validate my saying, "Need I say anything more?"
What do you feel about the fact that adults are buying alcohol for teens?
