Drink and the Young Person

Author: Letting Kids Drink Early Reduces Binging

In this age of “just say no,” some people believe it is time for Americans to reconsider how they teach kids about alcohol…

“We taught them to drink in a civilized fashion, like a civilized human being,” says Stanton Peele, psychologist and author of “Addiction-Proof Your Child.”

He says many of the programs set up to stop alcohol abuse contribute to the teen binge-drinking crisis. Any program that tells kids flatly not to drink creates temptation, he says. “Preparing your child to drink at home lessens the likelihood that they are going to binge drink,” he says. “Not sharing alcohol with your child is a risk factor for binge drinking.”

Peele says other cultures have figured it out. He points to Italy, Greece and Israel, where children are given small amounts of wine at religious celebrations or watered-down alcohol on special occasions.

But many other experts say the psychologist is off base. “That’s ridiculous,” says Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation. “By allowing teens to drink,” Fay says, “you are giving permission to your children to do harmful things.”

Fay’s argument is unconvincing because it misses the point. She either assumes that alcohol consumption is, in any quantity, inherently harmful to a young person’s physical or psychological well-being, or she assumes that supervised drinking will lead to unsupervised, immoderate use of alcohol, whereas Peele claims that it may lead to more moderate, adult, and responsible attitudes toward drink.

In Plato’s The Laws, the philosopher argues that while children should be forbidden wine, young men should be encouraged to drink in moderation, under the guidance of wiser, older men. The reason is as follows:

Wine has an unmistakable effect of causing those who drink it to lose a degree of control over their actions. Plato thus recommends using it as a tool to encourage and develop self-possession in young adults, as well as a better sense of their own limitations.

I’m not sure that I agree with Plato in every particular, but his case seems better argued than that of Ms. Fay.