alcohol education;is it important?

[sandraaet]

Should schools provide alcohol education to their students or is it the role of parents/carers?

I would imagine all schools cover alcohol in PSCHE (or whatever the acronym is) lessons don't they - along with sex, drugs etc.

But I don't believe this means that parents don't need to do anything. My mum thought that the sex ed we had at school when I was about 10 meant that she didn't need to talk to me about it at all!

I have teenage boys and I talk to them about all these issues. I've allowed them to try alcohol at home and talked to them about the effect of different drinks. DS1 doesn't really like alcohol though went for it big time at a New Year's Eve party the year before last (he was 18). Big lesson for him and his brothers who witnessed the fall out! DS2 (17) has a good attitude and has a bottle of cider once or twice a week with a meal. DS3 (15) isn't really interested yet but as soon as he is I will be talking to him about it (our talks tend to focus on sex at the moment as that is where his interests really lie!).

If you want me to choose who has the most responsibility then I would say parents rather than schools. But I do believe schools need to cover it as well for those parents who don't bother.

This is one of four posts that you've written, and the other three are about neknominations. Are you worried on a personal level (e.g. about a young relative) or researching an article?

Thanks for your response. I completely agree that it is the responsibility of both school and home.

Necknomination does indeed worry me; I have an impressionable teenage daughter! But no, I'm not doing research for an article - just trying to raise awareness.

Thank you for coming back to clarify. I think that the dangers of alcohol and the dangers of peer pressure should form part of an ongoing conversation. My children & I often chat about both.

One of the contexts in which we do this is while watching television. My eldest (nearly 14) and I watch Waterloo Road together every week. As well as prompting regular conversations about unrealistic plot-lines, we often chat about the issues that arise (underage drinking in a recent episode).

He also receives input about these issues from school (PHSE) but as a parent, I also want my children to be able to communicate with me about these things.

I agree that the television (and other media) are really good ways to start/continue meaningful discussions about a whole range of 'sensitive' subjects.

Of course it's important, and for those dc lucky enough to be in loving, caring, and well informed homes, that is great. Of course, all dc don't have that, so it's important it continues in school too.

Schools do cover it. It's part of PSHE and is also covered in other subject areas.