By Wells Shoemaker, M.D.
Children who develop a balanced view of drinking, by observing responsible models and trying alcoholic beverages in a safe and traditional mealtime setting, will be less likely to endanger themselves and others by impetuous consumption as young adults.
There is no creature on the planet more resourceful than an American high school senior who has been told there is something he cannot do. We glorify this trait in young-hero movies, but we may also confront a dangerous face of this same character on the way home from the movie theater.
Teen-agers can and will obtain prohibited materials and engage in prohibited activities as long as they represent:
-- a challenge to their creative energies, especially where their success can be recognized by peers,
-- access to pleasure and thrills defined as "adults only" and
-- symbolic demonstration of independence from parents and authority.
Teen-agers who obtain alcoholic beverages commit what our society considers a criminal act. The spoils need to be consumed surreptitiously, usually in some dumb place. They can't bring partial containers back, so they have to finish off the whole six-pack or the whole bottle. An automobile trip usually separates the drinking site from the safety of bed.
Teen-agers learn a great deal from their parents in 15 years, although they may not be willing to say "Thank you." The consistent behavior of the adults close to a young person is the most influential of all educational devices, as actions speak more clearly than didactic words.
If parents use beverages in moderation, I suggest occasionally offering small portions of wine or beer to children in a mealtime setting. The young people will know what they taste like and discover that the drinks are not magic keys to super powers or mystical vision or sexual conquest. Coupled with the consistent demonstration of moderate behavior, this matter-of-fact approach strips away the adventurism which can lead impressionable young people to drink foolishly away from the safety of home and the grounding influence of the home environment.
Alcohol deserves a place in the educational system. No, not in a glass, and not to encourage its use, but to understand its double-edged nature. Dogmatic condemnations of its use may stick for a little while, just as the McCarthy-esque "education" I received about Communism in the 1950s did. The trouble is that little kids grow up and begin to recognize lies, distortions, and hypocrisy. Betrayed, they often spitefully adopt diametrically opposed beliefs and behavior -- as our country witnessed in the late 1960s.
Many anti-alcohol groups consider that to present any face of alcohol other than the grievous vector of abuse will tacitly encourage youth to act abusively. This factually unfounded posture insults the intelligence of young people. Worse, it probably stimulates exactly what we all wish to avoid by giving alcohol an undeserved mystique as the "forbidden fruit."
What would constitute a realistic curriculum to form a base of information upon which young people could make responsible decisions?
-- History of alcohol and its role in civilizations of the past: agricultural, economic, social, political, religious issues, including manifestations of abuse.
-- Contemporary use of alcohol, comparative world cultural and religious approaches, from Islam to Ireland, Chablis to Chicago, Moscow to Miami, Tel Aviv to Timbuktu.
-- Medical physiology of alcohol effects upon the healthy person as well as the health consequences upon abusers. Fetal alcohol syndrome. The medical "play by play" of a drunken evening, analyzed by organ systems.
-- The sociological consequences of alcohol abuse upon the individual, the family, and society at large. Short term dangers, long term outcomes. The disease of alcoholism will affect 10 percent of these students at some point in their lives, often manifesting early in the teen years.
Parents who use alcoholic beverages abusively may have given their children both the genetic predisposition and the behavioral model to follow their paths. This situation may apply to 5 to 10 percent of American households. Children of alcoholics face exaggerated risks of dangerous behavior, both for themselves and for others, as well as a likelihood of unhappiness in life.
Teen-age alcoholics are, in my opinion, some of the most scandalously under-served sick persons in our society. Many pediatricians are learning through their continuing education to recognize these individuals; however, pediatricians rarely have a chance to help. Educational exposure through the schools stands a chance to bring these young people closer to understanding and help before some awful trauma has occurred.