Hot Topic (5/23): Is it okay to drink alcohol in front of kids?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

From MSNBC.com:

CHICAGO - Preschoolers pretending to shop for a Barbie doll’s social evening were more likely to choose cigarettes if their parents smoked, and wine or beer if their parents drank, a study found.

Researchers observing the children’s play found that the ones who watched PG-13 or R-rated movies also were more likely to choose alcohol for Barbie . . .

. . . The study suggests that prevention efforts should target younger children, Dalton said. It was published Monday in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The study included 120 children, ages 2 to 6. An adult researcher led a standardized play activity in which each child, acting as a Barbie or Ken doll, shopped for a visiting friend. A store stocked with 133 miniature items gave the children choices — including meat, fruit, vegetables, snacks, nonalcoholic drinks, cigarettes, beer and wine.

The children could “buy” anything they wanted by filling a small grocery cart and taking it to a small checkout counter.

Twenty-eight percent of the children bought cigarettes, and 61 percent bought alcohol. The children whose parents smoked were almost four times more likely to buy cigarettes. The children whose parents drank at least monthly were three times more likely to buy alcohol.

Children who watched adult-content movies were five times more likely to buy alcohol, but the researchers did not find a statistically significant link between movie-watching and choosing cigarettes.

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Memorial Day weekend is here.  Time for barbecues and . . . beer?  Do you drink in front of your children? 

Do you think drinking in front of children is a good or bad idea?

[sallymoon]

I don't think drinking in front of your child is necessarily bad, but being a drunk idiot in front of your child probably isn't a good idea.

[BMW0508]

People do drink around my kids but I don't. So there is at least one sane person to watch them. I will make sure my kids are somewhere safe before I drink anything.  

[oompa07]

I will have an occasional glass of red wine and my husband a beer and neither one of us smokes.  I don't see anything wrong with an occasional drink.  We don't drink enough to get drunk but even if we did, I don't think we would in front of our kids.

[christina0607]

Having a drink does not always lead to being drunk. I do not think having a drink will in anyway harm my children. I have neevr been drunk in front of my kids.

[IhartU]

I don't think drinking is a good thing whether in front of children or not. It's stupid and nothing good comes from it.

[br0kenscars]

I don't think drinking in front of your kids is wrong.  As long as you are not getting drunk and trying to take care of your kids.  I see nothing wrong with relaxing and drinking a couple.

[othermom]

I see nothing wrong with it as long as your kids don't see you falling down drunk and stuff like that. To sit down and have a few beers and relax there is nothing wrong with that. I have explained to my kids that it is something just for adults to do.

[tericared]

Having a drink and drinking I think are two different things......Having a class of wine or a beer, even a mixed drink once in a while is not the same thing as drinking every night after work or every weekend.....I myself no longer drink, but I see no problem having a drink once in a while in front of your kids,,,,but drinking regularly in front of any child is not a good thing.

[shinyhappymom]

As long as you drink responsibly, then I don't see a problem with it. 

[Kaelaasmom]

 As long as you are being responsible, there is nothing wrong with it. My daughter has seen my husband, parents, and I partake of a drink or two with dinner or at large family functions.

When I want to get drunk, I leave her with her dad and head out on the town with my friends. She has never seen me drunk, and she never will.