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Should 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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