Most adults would agree that alcohol can be seriously damaging to young people, to their health, safety and wellbeing. Many parents choose to forbid their children from drinking alcohol at all but there are many that choose to provide alcohol to their kids so that they can “control” the amount they consume, rather than have them just sneaking around drinking with their friends with the possibility of them abusing it even more. Obviously there are those that don’t limit the amount of alcohol they provide for their kids and don’t teach them to be responsible drinkers, which is where the problem comes in.
In fact according to a NSW parliamentary committee, parents or guardians who do not behave responsibly when it comes to giving alcohol to minors should be forced into counselling in the hopes that this will make them more responsible when providing alcohol to minors.
It is not expected to be met with much criticism because most people agree that many adults aren’t cautious enough about providing alcohol to minors, which is breeding a problem.
The clampdown on parents has been pushed by the committee and others who believe that in order to tackle a problem of this magnitude it is vital that parents also be dealt with. Alcohol abuse among young people is growing, this is obvious from statistics and the number of minors being checked into rehabilitation centres. Also many adult users began their unhealthy relationship with alcohol at a young age.
At the moment, parents and guardians are legally permitted to supply alcohol to their children as well as children placed in their care as long as their parents give consent.
Read what this excerpt from an article on TheHerald.com.au had to say:
The parliamentary committee wants to add the mild proviso that any such supply be made “in a manner that is consistent with responsible supervision”. Relevant factors would be the child’s age, whether the adult or child was drunk, whether the child was drinking alcohol with food, the amount and type of alcohol and the time over which it was supplied.
Fair enough, but debate on such a minor legal tweak shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow much bigger and more important questions in the overall alcohol debate.
Newcastle Community Drug Action Team chair Tony Brown has correctly noted, for example, the large volume of unregulated online liquor promotions that are directed at teenagers.
Read more: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1775920/editorial-children-drinking-alcohol/?cs=303
According to the team the saturation of the Aussie alcohol market has led the alcohol industry seeking other opportunities for sales growth, to look to the youth market. Alcohol companies understand that market growth is limited and requires them to “groom” the younger generation to become drinkers, it is the only untapped or underdeveloped market at the moment.
The post goes on to explain:
If policymakers are genuinely concerned about this possibility then they should by all means consider enforcing greater accountability for parents and guardians. But tackling liquor advertising and promotion and considering other factors such as price and availability would bring a bigger dividend for the effort involved.
Read more: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1775920/editorial-children-drinking-alcohol/?cs=303