As a child who grew up in a middle class home I can tell you alcohol was prevalent in both the home and among my experimenting friends. I was 12 when I got drunk for the first time.
According to a recent study reported in www.telegraph.co.uk, more middle class children are experiencing alcohol at earlier ages. I would hope they would be forced to take an 8 hour MIP class as soon as possible. They must understand the invisible damage they are doing to their brain and body.
The study revealed that middle-class children are far more likely to have drunk alcohol by the age of 12 than those from lower social groups.
Is it alarming to you that more than one in three of those born in professional households had downed a full glass before reaching their teenage years? The 35 per cent figure among the middle classes is almost twice the level found among 12-year-olds across all economic groups.
Many of these young experimenters secretly raided well-stocked liquor cabinets, while many more were being allowed to drink by parents who believed that it would help them to develop more mature attitudes towards alcohol.
The fact is, the younger children begin to drink the greater the likelihood they will develop a lifelong drinking problem.
Parents should not encourage youth to drink alcohol, nor should they condone it in any manner. Alcohol is a toxin. What parent in their right mind would supply their child with poison. Perhaps parents also need to take a 24 hour alcohol awareness class!