Children and alcohol
It has been”The Eve of May Day”. I visited a traditional fire in my neighbourhood. It was nice weather, much people and a great firework. But I didn’t enjoy it and that was because I saw drunken children. They were around 15, both boys and girls. The youngest was 13. Last week I could read in my local newspaper that my community (Eda kommun), has more drinking children in class 9, especially girls, than other communities in Värmland. It is very easy for the children to get alcohol and it’s not unusual that children in class 9 drink several times in a week. I’ve got three children and I don’t want them to drink before they are 18. What can we as a community and adults do about this? How can we stop children’s drinking?
The first and most important thing is the parent’s role. A parent is the most significant person in a child’s life. What the mother/father does and says is a main thing and the parent needs to be a good model. A parent’s attitudes to alcohol influence a child’s alcohol habits more than anything. The parent needs also to listen to the child and show attention and respect. It’s very important to give the child security to say no to alcohol. A child’s security is most of all built together with the parent’s. Some parents think they can control the child’s drinking if they let them taste at home. Some parent’s also buy and give the children for example some bottles of bear for a party. “Then I know what he/she is drinking” is a usual thought. All examinations tell against that. You should never as a parent give the child alcohol. Those children who get alcohol at home drink a lot more than those who don’t. They usually don’t stop with the bottles they got at home. So altogether the parent has the most important role to stop children’s drinking!
The second thing is the school’s role. All Swedish children go to school. As a teacher you have a possibility to reach many children and give them the tools to say “No thanks” to alcohol. A school can work in many different ways with this subject. One thing is to learn the children about the many big risks of alcohol, another is to work with different kind of self-confidence tasks. If the child can stand against the pressure of the group and say “No thanks!” than I think the school has done a great job!
The third thing is to stop the bootleggers. I’m getting so upset when I’m thinking of adults who are making money of selling alcohol to children! We have a big problem with smuggled alcohol these days. Most of the drunken children have been drinking smuggled alcohol, mostly bear. How can we stop those bootleggers? I have mentioned the parents before! Once again; the parents have a very big role! They can ask their children and call for an answer to get to know the bootlegger. Also a teacher, or other adults at the school, must ask the children where they get the alcohol. Than of course make a report about it to the police. I also think that the police should work harder to catch bootleggers.
Some people mean that it doesn’t matter if a child tastes alcohol before 18 or after 18; the risk to be dependent is the same anyway. I don’t agree with them and neither do most of the research-workers. Most examinations show that dependence on alcohol is more common if you have had an early meeting with alcohol. We must stop children’s drinking!
To make a summary I mean that we all, parents, school, community, police and other adults
have a big task here. We can give support, information, limits and so on. The most important thing for us as adults is anyway, as I mentioned before, to be a good model. We have some young good models in Adam Tensta and Björn Gustavsson who have told they are teetotaller. More of those good models would be fine! If we can help the children to avoid alcohol we will win so much. For each year a child avoid alcohol, the risk of alcohol dependence will decrease with 14%. Well, we have a great job to do, so let’s begin!
It has been”The Eve of May Day”. I visited a traditional fire in my neighbourhood. It was nice weather, much people and a great firework. But I didn’t enjoy it and that was because I saw drunken children. They were around 15, both boys and girls. The youngest was 13. Last week I could read in my local newspaper that my community (Eda kommun), has more drinking children in class 9, especially girls, than other communities in Värmland. It is very easy for the children to get alcohol and it’s not unusual that children in class 9 drink several times in a week. I’ve got three children and I don’t want them to drink before they are 18. What can we as a community and adults do about this? How can we stop children’s drinking?
The first and most important thing is the parent’s role. A parent is the most significant person in a child’s life. What the mother/father does and says is a main thing and the parent needs to be a good model. A parent’s attitudes to alcohol influence a child’s alcohol habits more than anything. The parent needs also to listen to the child and show attention and respect. It’s very important to give the child security to say no to alcohol. A child’s security is most of all built together with the parent’s. Some parents think they can control the child’s drinking if they let them taste at home. Some parent’s also buy and give the children for example some bottles of bear for a party. “Then I know what he/she is drinking” is a usual thought. All examinations tell against that. You should never as a parent give the child alcohol. Those children who get alcohol at home drink a lot more than those who don’t. They usually don’t stop with the bottles they got at home. So altogether the parent has the most important role to stop children’s drinking!
The second thing is the school’s role. All Swedish children go to school. As a teacher you have a possibility to reach many children and give them the tools to say “No thanks” to alcohol. A school can work in many different ways with this subject. One thing is to learn the children about the many big risks of alcohol, another is to work with different kind of self-confidence tasks. If the child can stand against the pressure of the group and say “No thanks!” than I think the school has done a great job!
The third thing is to stop the bootleggers. I’m getting so upset when I’m thinking of adults who are making money of selling alcohol to children! We have a big problem with smuggled alcohol these days. Most of the drunken children have been drinking smuggled alcohol, mostly bear. How can we stop those bootleggers? I have mentioned the parents before! Once again; the parents have a very big role! They can ask their children and call for an answer to get to know the bootlegger. Also a teacher, or other adults at the school, must ask the children where they get the alcohol. Than of course make a report about it to the police. I also think that the police should work harder to catch bootleggers.
Some people mean that it doesn’t matter if a child tastes alcohol before 18 or after 18; the risk to be dependent is the same anyway. I don’t agree with them and neither do most of the research-workers. Most examinations show that dependence on alcohol is more common if you have had an early meeting with alcohol. We must stop children’s drinking!
To make a summary I mean that we all, parents, school, community, police and other adults
have a big task here. We can give support, information, limits and so on. The most important thing for us as adults is anyway, as I mentioned before, to be a good model. We have some young good models in Adam Tensta and Björn Gustavsson who have told they are teetotaller. More of those good models would be fine! If we can help the children to avoid alcohol we will win so much. For each year a child avoid alcohol, the risk of alcohol dependence will decrease with 14%. Well, we have a great job to do, so let’s begin!
Hello Ewa
SvaraRaderaI think you have written a very interesting and engaging text. Your spelling is good and so is your paragraphing.
There is one thing though. When you write “all Swedish children go to school”, I think you mean “all children in Sweden go to school”. Because every child, not just Swedish children, goes to school, if you live in Sweden, that is!
As an adult you have an enormous responsibility. We have to see to that nothing awful happens to the children. I do agree with you in everything you write, but your text makes me feel a bit angry and sad. How could grown-ups do this to their children? Why do they not act like adults and show their children how to deal with things?
Thank you for your blog.
//Annelie