NATIONAL LIQUOR NEWS – December 2006
Should I teach my child to drink?
By Gordon Broderick
This is a dilemma faced by almost every parent. Basically there are two opposing camps of opinion. One view is that early initiation to alcohol correlates to alcohol problems later in life. The other view is that responsible parenting should include teaching young adults about alcohol – and allowing them to sample small amounts - as part of developing life skills. At the outset DSICA wishes to point out that it does not support the supply of alcohol to children in their early teens - this debate concerns young persons approaching the age of 18.
Recently, health advocates have been arguing that parents should not introduce persons under the age of 18 years to alcohol because of problems associated with the ‘early initiation’. While DSICA acknowledges that there is a body of evidence that suggests “the earlier the age of initiation, the greater the likelihood of increased consumption, and associated health and behaviour problems”, we contend that in many instances health advocates tend to ignore several important factors. But first some background.
Contrary to popular perceptions, the National Drug Strategy Household Survey results reveal that the average age of initiation into alcohol for males is 16.6 years, while that for females is 17.9 years. These figures also show that there has been no increase in the age of initiation to alcohol since measurements were undertaken in 1991.
Laws across Australian jurisdictions regarding underage drinking vary. While it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 years to purchase alcohol in Australia, in Victoria alcohol may legally be consumed in a private residence by those less than 18 years. In NSW the situation is similar, but parents or guardians may only supply alcohol to their own children.
This is a very important point because the law explicitly recognises that in some controlled circumstances, alcohol may be consumed by those under the legal purchasing age.
Health advocates argue that initiation to alcohol should be delayed as long as possible, but in making these calls they miss several important points. They tend to ignore important factors such as the ‘context’ of alcohol consumption, quality of the parental relationship, socio-economic factors and peer influences. Research undertaken by the Commonwealth Government suggests that parents have an important influence on a younger person’s drinking patterns (1).
Controlled, supervised drinking seeks to avoid the trial and error mistakes that many young persons encounter in an uncontrolled environment.
The Commonwealth Government’s Australian Alcohol Guidelines provides guidance on this matter. It notes that “helping young people to learn about drinking and the effects of alcohol within a safe and supportive environment can help them manage their drinking in ways that minimise risk to themselves and others, both when they are young and throughout their adult years … to become a responsible adult drinkers, a gradual supervised introduction to alcohol is recommended.”
Commonsense dictates that parents and guardians have a crucial role to play as role models in educating their children about alcohol. Ultimately, the question of whether an adolescent should sample alcohol as part of this education rests with the parents. However a blanket call for postponing initiation – even until the age of 21 years as some advocates are suggesting – ignores the positive role models parents or guardians can play in educating their children about alcohol.
1 Parenting Influences of Adolescent Alcohol Use (Department of Health & Aging, 2004)
