How do you deal with your teenager drinking?

[Dangerosa]

@carlb

I have had to have a few conversations with my step-daughter around issues like this (not precisely, but close enough). In our case, we have a good relationship, and she is old enough to recognize her father for the general screw-up that he is. I essentially said to her that she needs to be aware that she would appear to have some genetic tendencies (mostly on her father’s side) and some personality traits of her own that could very easily lead to addictions. Any consumption of alcohol or other potentially addictive substances should be undertaken with caution, and with foreknowledge that it could be a very slippery slope for her.

That conversation was pretty time-, place-, and attitude-specific. Like I said, a great deal depends upon the status of your daughter’s relationships with you and her mother at this point in time, and whether or not she’s looking ahead at things like finishing school, having a career - life in general. But, in our case, I think it’s a tactic that had some positive effect.

We’ve had that discussion with both our kids - although with my son who is adopted we have no idea what his genetic tendencies might be. We do know that depression and alcoholism gallop through my family like Secretariat on Derby Day - so since they were little they got the “it is something to be careful of” speech. They are currently ten and eleven.