Time Magazine recently did a story called, Should You Drink With Your Kids?. While the data contained in the story is generally U.S. based, we find it kind of interesting.
The University of Michigan has a series of surveys that it conducts called Monitoring the Future. According to these surveys, in 1991, 81 per cent of 8th, 10th and 12th grade students had had at least one drink in their lives.
In 2007, this number was 58 per cent.
Of this group who admitted to at least one drink, 47 per cent had been drunk at least once in 1991, while 38 per cent had been drunk at least once in 2007.
Combining these numbers, 38 per cent of these underage students had been drunk at least once in 1991. In 2007, this number is 22 per cent, nearly half.
On college campuses in the U.S., the results are similar. In 1980, 18 per cent of students said that they had not had an alcoholic drink in the previous month. In 2006, this number was 35 per cent.
So, it seems that the data shows that there are fewer underage drinkers now than there were in the previous generation. This is a good thing. However, there is additional data in the article that is not quite so good.
According to the current data, 26 per cent of college students who drink have been at the point that they have forgotten where they were or what they did at least once. This percentage is purported to be only 18 per cent in the late 1940s.
So, one might conclude that there are less underage or young drinkers, but that those who are drinking are more hardcore about it.
The position that is proposed in the article is that it might not be a bad idea for adults to train their underage drinking family members to drink responsibly. At least, that having a drink or two is one thing, but that drinking to get drunk is another thing entirely.
The article notes that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act passed in 1984 in the U.S. permits kids to drink at home or in “private clubs or establishments”. In the U.S., only six states ban underage drinking entirely.
Here in the Yukon, underage drinking is explicitly permitted by the Liquor Act. The drinking must take place in a private residence, licensed dining room or restaurant or at a reception if the specific license permits it.
And, the underage drinking must be supervised by a parent, grandparent or legal guardian while in the company of that adult.
This is a more European approach to drinking. It is intended to demystify the whole idea. The theory is, if you are used to a glass or wine with a meal at 16 or 17, you are less likely to chug the bottle of vodka and Sunny D when you are 19.
Does this work? Well, the rate of alcohol dependence in the U.S. is 7.8 per cent. In Italy it is less than 1 per cent and in Spain 2.8 per cent. And, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the alcohol abuse rate in Canada is 11.0 per cent.
Of course, if you have underage people under your care and control, the decision is totally up to you.
