![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
10/8/05 23:21It looks like MADD is on the case of -- OMG! Supervised underage drinking in the Hispanic community! And their parents allow it! Isn't that terrible?
Yargh.
They cite the statistic that those who start drinking young are much more likely to become alcoholic, and I buy that to a certain extent, but they also have to look at the social context of the drinking. My younger sisters are both in Paris now, living the Parisian lifestyle--they drink wine. My dad has become quite the oenophile; he lets them drink. And for every study you can cite saying that underage drinking is Bad and Wrong, you can find a study saying that the European attitude towards drinking, which includes moderate amounts of alcohol at meals with the family, is healthier and produces less alcoholism than the Anglo-American culture of teenage binge drinking at parties. If drinking isn't a taboo, then it's that much less attractive to people who want to be rebellious for the sake of rebellion.
I don't drink much, personally. Massive tannin allergy, I only like the fruity girly drinks, and in general I think alcohol is an expense I don't need in my life. But I do know that my parents, by allowing a glass of wine with meals, made me realize that I didn't have the slightest interest in drinking way more than was healthy for me.
Yargh.
They cite the statistic that those who start drinking young are much more likely to become alcoholic, and I buy that to a certain extent, but they also have to look at the social context of the drinking. My younger sisters are both in Paris now, living the Parisian lifestyle--they drink wine. My dad has become quite the oenophile; he lets them drink. And for every study you can cite saying that underage drinking is Bad and Wrong, you can find a study saying that the European attitude towards drinking, which includes moderate amounts of alcohol at meals with the family, is healthier and produces less alcoholism than the Anglo-American culture of teenage binge drinking at parties. If drinking isn't a taboo, then it's that much less attractive to people who want to be rebellious for the sake of rebellion.
I don't drink much, personally. Massive tannin allergy, I only like the fruity girly drinks, and in general I think alcohol is an expense I don't need in my life. But I do know that my parents, by allowing a glass of wine with meals, made me realize that I didn't have the slightest interest in drinking way more than was healthy for me.
