Parent Hosted Booze Parties for Teens
On Straight Talk – a woman writes in with concerns over her boyfriend who wants to permit his son’s to throw an overnight party complete with alcohol. The boyfriend rationalizes his position in that he’d be providing a safe place to drink. To the contrary, the boyfriend believes if the kids don’t have a safe place they may end up driving while drunk, over-drink or participate in other harmful activities.
In this segment, teens are then allowed to sound off. Each one seems to heavily support the boyfriends position and confirm every parents worst nightmare in that teens will drink and party regardless of whether parents provide a safe place or not.
Fortunately this isn’t a concern for me just yet, but I know the time is quick approaching. With my twins turning sixteen in March, my fears are growing and my prayers that I’ve instilled good solid decision making into their thought processes.
What are your thoughts? Do you think parents should be providing a safe place for kids to drink where they can be monitored?
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My personal opinion is that the boyfriend is breaking the law by providing alcohol to minors. Even when monitered kids can get into trouble when drinking.
Providing alcohol to minors is a recipe for disaster. As adults, it is OUR responsibility to set the bar for achieving success for the young people in our lives.
This party is NOT a good idea and he would NOT be a boyfriend of mine if he even entertained such idea.
Be attracted to responsible men not men who would even think of behaving in this manner! Good luck.
Yes this is breaking the law, even if you only supply to your own child, it is still illegel. A friend of mine wanted to do the same thing with her son, she didn’t believe me so she called the police station and confirmed it.
I actually mentioned this in my comment about driving! Yes, I think teenagers should have the opportunity to be taught how to drink responsibly while they are still under their parents roof. This does not mean buying them alcohol and staying out of their way on a different floor of the house, or partying it up with your kids. It means providing a safe place and, along with the alcohol, other forms of entertainment. This will teach them that the alcohol itself is not the entertainment, rather something to go along with something else. It also means monitering how much is being drank, and actively teaching responsibiliity. Of course, laws can complicate this. I have heard that in some states it is not a violation of law for a teenager to drink in a private residence, with parental permission and in others a parent can be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for giving their teen a few sips of wine. I have not verified this, so I am not sure if it is correct. Regardless of the law, it would be absolutely vital that the parents throwing such a party had direct contact with each parent of each of the teens involved, that all parents understood what was happening, and that the parent whose home it was at had the explicit consent of all other parents.
The first time i was drunk, i was with my dad in Sweden. We each had about four or five glasses of Whiskey. I do admit that it was raising the bar high, but i still believe that more good came out of it than bad. Many teenagers will end up drinking at one point and most will end up drinking once they become of age. Drinking isn’t simple. You don’t take shot after shot until you feel something. It is up to the parents to teach they kids to drink. That night in Sweden i puked half my body weight into the toilet. What did i learn: Pace myself and know my own limits. It would take a lot of trail and error for teens to learn that on their own. So save them the trouble and teach them to handle liquor. Not to mention it could be a good bonding experience. I know it sounds disturbing, but they might think of you as that “cool mom”. By the way, my parents drank in highschool and they’re still breathing. I know that this is not my place to say this, but remember the seventies?