research paper for phyllis young

Applied Final Project Part 1

Parent-Supervised Alcohol Use

Dear Alex,

I am writing this letter to inform you on the issue of parent-supervised alcohol use. My kid is currently 13-years-old. Soon, he will go to high school. I think if he goes to any high school parties, there might be alcohol use. If I have forbid him from drinking, I think he would use those opportunities to drink. If he over-drinks, he can get himself or others injured. If he rides along with someone who is drunk, they might crash and get themselves seriously injured.

Currently, many national governments have different age minimums for drinking; while, some countries do not have a minimum age. Regardless of the law, I think some kids would drink and get themselves in trouble. I think the drinking age is meaningless because sometimes when adults are the one drinking, even they make poor choices. I think when kids are at a certain developmental stage, they feel extra rebellious, and if adults forbid them from drinking, they would want to drink even more, just to defy authority.

I feel in today’s society and social media, it is difficult to avoid drinking. Movies and TV shows show how awesome or cool it is to drink. Their message is if you want to have fun, you need to drink. I think responsible drinking or supervised drinking can help kids understand what it means to drink. They can learn the risks of drinking. By doing so, I hope they can avoid making irreversible mistakes.

However, in the McMorris’ study, it suggests otherwise. The study finds that adult-supervised alcohol use resulted in higher levels of harmful alcohol consequences. (McMorris)

Alex, you came from Russia. I wonder what are thoughts about this topic, and what were your parents’ policies regarding to underage drinking or drinking in general.

Shan

Reference:

1. McMorris, B. J., Catalano, R. F., Kim, M. J., Toumbourou, J. W., & Hemphill, S. A. (2011). Influence of Family Factors and Supervised Alcohol Use on Adolescent Alcohol Use and Harms: Similarities Between Youth in Different Alcohol Policy Contexts. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72(3), 418–428.

2. ProCon.org. (2016, March 10). Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) in 190 Countries. Retrieved from http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004294