Because alcohol use is a part of many adolescents’ lives there is a school of thought that says parents should supervise their children’s alcohol use to encourage responsible drinking. This is a common approach to drinking in many families. But, there is also a large group, perhaps even larger, that promotes a zero-tolerance policy that forbids all underage alcohol use.
To settle this argument a group of scientists studied seventh-grade students (N = 1,945; 989 females) from schools in a state which had a ‘Harm-minimization” policy (Washington) with seventh grade students from schools in a state which had a “zero-tolerance” policy (Victoria, Australia). All students completed comprehensive questionnaires on alcohol use, related problem behaviors, and risk and protective factors annually from 2002 to 2004 when they were in ninth grade.
I was a bit surprised to read that relationships between family context and alcohol use and harmful use were very similar in both states,even though they were from different countries – make that Continents! But I was not surprise to learn that adult-supervised alcohol use resulted in higher levels of harmful alcohol consequences, contrary to predictions supported by the “harm-minimization policy”.
This study shows that the “harm-minimization” position of supervised alcohol use by middle school kids does not reduce the development of adolescent alcohol problems. It would be interesting to see what the difference in alcohol related problems will be after following the groups into adulthood; it is well established that use of alcohol in kids before the age of 15, even before the early 20s, increases the likelihood of adult related alcohol problems by more than 600%. The developing brain can not tolerate exposure to alcohol!
Perhaps it’s time to take a scientific look at other permissive parenting practices and see how they work out!