- I've noticed that my son sometimes comes home from out with his friends at night and has been drinking alcohol. For now, I'm pretending not to notice. Should I continue like this, or should I talk to him?
- How can I explain to my daughter that it's not good to drink alcohol when we drink wine and beer at home?
- Can I tell my children that I understand they drink, but that they should do so in moderation, or is it better to tell them not to drink at all?
- I have a 14-year-old daughter, and I've seen more than one of her friends pass out from alcohol. But when we talk about it, she doesn't see how serious it is. How can I make her understand the seriousness of alcohol consumption, especially when it's excessive?
- Is it advisable for adults to buy alcohol for our children so they don't secretly buy the cheapest and most harmful kind?
- I'm a teacher and I've noticed that a 16-year-old student who is experiencing a very recent loss is drinking alcohol. How can I help her?
- Are there any training or prevention programs on alcohol consumption for schools in Catalonia?
- What signs can tell us that a teenager really has a problem with alcohol consumption?
- What can I do if I know my teenage son is abusing alcohol, but he doesn't listen to me?
- Should I allow my daughter to have parties at home with friends where I know they consume alcohol?
- At what age and how can we start talking to our children about alcohol?
- Any guidelines or tips for prevention from home?
- Should we allow minors in the family to drink wine or cava on special occasions like Christmas or birthdays?
- Should advertising of alcoholic beverages be banned in establishments, supermarkets and bars?
Is it advisable for adults to buy alcohol for our children so they don't secretly buy the cheapest and most harmful kind?
When buying alcohol for your children, what risk are you trying to avoid? If the answer is to avoid the discomfort caused by consuming the cheapest or lowest quality alcohol, we want to point out a couple of things. First, it's important to consider the type of consumption we're talking about. In the case of occasional consumption by teenagers, the discomfort is often more related to the alcohol content, the amount consumed, or the speed at which it's consumed than to its quality or price.
On the other hand, buying alcohol for your children doesn't reduce the risk of them being exposed to other types of alcohol , including the cheapest kind. Furthermore, we can go a step further and ask ourselves if buying alcohol for your children influences the other people in their friend group. Are we perhaps making it easier for others to access alcohol?
Often the discomfort has more to do with the alcohol content, the amount and the speed at which it is consumed than with the quality or price.
So, if you're worried about drinking in public, perhaps you could focus your efforts on other things that help reduce the risk of feeling unwell: pay for dinner to ensure they eat before drinking, buy ice to reduce the amount of alcohol in a drink, buy water to alternate with alcohol consumption, buy glasses to avoid mixing drinks from the bottle…
Finally, in our interventions with teenagers in party settings, we have often encountered situations where the family has bought the alcohol and perhaps bought more of it, or even drinks with a higher alcohol content, because they have thought more about their own experience than that of their sons or daughters.