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Add to FavoritesShould you let your child drink alcohol from your glass? Yes, that's actually a good idea. Better still, get them their own glass! Let them have a taste of whatever you're drinking at the dinner table. It would be uncivilised not to.
Before the political correctness police start to pound on my door, perhaps I had better explain. I'm not particularly evil or some sort of sociopathic leader-astray of children. Honest, I'm not. Keep reading.
You see, I'm from the UK. Here in Britain it is generally acknowledged that we still have a bit of a binge-drinking culture, where it is common for people to deliberately, habitually, go out and drink alcohol to excess. A 2006 Datamonitor survey put us ahead of other European countries such as Germany, Spain and France in the amount of booze that Brits typically consume on a night out (on average 6.3 units, or just over two pints of strong lager.) And the problem drinkers are getting younger - a recent poll found that 42% of disadvantaged youngsters start drinking before the age of 13, with almost a third revealing that they do it simply to get drunk. This sort of excessive alcohol intake leads to a slew of other problems - more accidents, vandalism and violence, plus a rise in serious health conditions such as liver damage.
My point is this. Bad drinking habits are very like bad eating habits or bad money habits - they can set in at an early age and cause problems throughout a lifetime. However, bad habits can be replaced by good habits with the help of education - and education, as we know, starts in the home. Parents who eat responsibly can set a good example and teach their children to eat responsibly too. Ditto with finances, as young children can be taught to budget, save and handle their money sensibly. And it's the same with alcohol.
Instead of learning about alcohol from friends at school (where the dynamics of peer pressure inevitably come to bear), children should learn in their own homes, at the dinner table. And by children, I'm not talking about babies and infants - obviously it is stupid and dangerous to give alcohol to very young children. That's not what I'm about. I'm talking about pre-teens, the kids who in a few short years will become embroiled in all the exciting and scary rites of adulthood. Southern European societies provide a useful model, with parents in countries like Italy and Spain traditionally introducing their children gently to the pleasures of a drink with food, in a family setting. And that is basically the practice I would recommend. By "a drink", I mean a small volume of low-percentage wine or beer - as in so many other areas of life, moderation is key.
Alcohol, love it or loathe it, is very much part of our culture in the West, and I think parents need to decide how they want their children to learn about it. With a sip of wine at a family dinner, along with the Sunday roast? Downing alcopops in a crowded bar or on a street corner? To my mind, the answer is clear.
Learn more about this author, Alex Cull.
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No
At an early age, often trying hard to please their parents, children can be taught to develop a taste for, and eat or drink almost anything if it is made to appear necessary, fun, pleasant, smart, or "brave" to do so . In fact, giving children alcohol is none of those things.
For a child, it is not pleasant, fun, or brave. It is, however, a demonstrable lack of adult thought and although some pre-adolescent minds may even consider it a source of levity, it is far from humorous.
Must society be ever reminded it is the job of adults to protect children? Having them drink alcohol is unnecessarily exposing them to future health risks, and may be nothing but painfully short of stupid.
Is that statement an unreasonable position to take when protecting children? No. Children are the jewels of the earth, perhaps our only absolutely genuine and significant contribution to the future of humanity, and as such they must be protected both physically and emotionally.
Serious questions need to be asked when an adult knowingly and purposefully gives a child alcohol. What encourages an adult with a sense of working intelligence to offer a child a mind-altering substance? Adult society clearly does not approve of allowing children to play with matches and open gasoline, or toddle nonchalantly across busy freeways . Responsible adult society protects children from fire, severe weather, and predators.
Is alcohol known to make children smarter, wiser, or less prone to be troublesome? No.
Is alcohol healthy, an essential part of a healthy diet for developing babies and children? No.
Should the adult analyze his or her own reasons for allowing a child to have alcohol? Yes.
What is the adult, in practicing this highly suspect behaviour, trying to achieve? Who are we trying to impress when we offer our children a sip of alcohol? The child, some alternative person, or ourselves? What are we trying to demonstrate? Are we trying to persuade the child that he or she can be, or should be, as "adult" as we are? Do we wish the child to imitate our own, often defective personal characteristics?
It is difficult to believe that any parent can claim superior worldliness by demonstrating lax parental control. In the extreme, uncaring alcoholic parents may even insist that all family members drink, regardless of age, to justify their own compulsive drinking.
The thoughtless may insist offering a child alcohol is done in harmless fun. Shall we then also insist that children, the most vulnerable and innocent members of society, practice other foolish customs civilization gets involved in regardless of potential peril?
In teaching children to drink at the earliest possible age, society risks teaching the innocent how to develop a taste for alcohol without the awareness of the potential damage it can do to them. The peril is foisted upon them unknowingly and the potential effects may not surface for years.
Why take unnecessary chances with the health of children you love?
There is little doubt that more effort should be made to avoid this common mistake. No, it is sensible and logical that you should not let your child drink alcohol from your glass.
Learn more about this author, Raymond Alexander Kukkee.
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