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well, my parents dont worry about me going to be an underage drinker/ alcholic
they have a good approch: let your kids have a sip of wine etc. everyonce and a while, so they dont drink a gallon full of it when they are 21 because they already know what it taste like
(i never accualy tried any, the wine on my 1st communion tasted like crap :P )
i have no clue about what they think about the other 3
Hmm... interesting topic, specialy considering I have three children and the oldest just turned 16 the other week!
Well Drugs, its a big issue. I look at my brother who started on a bit of weed when he was 16. Now he is trying to kick the big H, has tried almost every single drug in all the possible ways that you could imagine. Drugs have had an incredibly big impact on his life. So I see drugs as a big issue which I beleive the best approach is education, not overbearing monitoring.
Cars is another issue, more so in the States as you guys can drive by yourself at such a young age. Over here i thnk 70% of all road fatalities are of kids between 18 and 25 (18 is the oldest that a kid can drive by themselves over here). I presonaly beleive this is particaly because the driving leasons are aimed at passing the test instead of teaching the kids how to drive, also parents are at fault cause a lot of them can't be bothered with the hassle of letting their kids learn while on their 'L's.
Sex, well kids are gonna do it if they realy want to, no matter how hard a parent will try and stop it, if they realy want to. I would rather teach, explain and try and make certain they feel comfortable comming to me with any questions or problems. I would encourage my boys to have condoms, just in case and explain how important it is to use them. If I had a girl I would be very open, explain the important of condoms (its not on if it aint on), explain about date rate and peer pressure to do it, and most prob get her on the pill if she wants when she first expresses her interest in having a sexual experiance.
As for alcohol, well I agree with KatGirl, a simple drink every now and again, nothing hard. Italians and Greeks are big wine drinkers and I like how they let their kids drink a glass of wine at dinner from an early age.
In all four categories there are two massive factors in why they cause problems. One is the desire to fit in and go with the flow, the other is direct peer pressure. The biggest reason my brother's life is such a mess is because he had to be with the in crowd and was always trying to please the crowd, hence why he ended up smashin his mom's car on the weekend of his 18th, got is stomach pumped in hospital from alcohol poisoning a week later and we wont even get into the other areas :D
Sex, Alcohal.
