Editorial #105: Parenting linked to teen drinking habits

Autism Politico has read an article that says parenting is linked to teen drinking habits.

Ever notice how Autism Politico keeps reading all sorts of articles most parents have never read? You may want to ask yourself how parents can be so obtuse and if they really care about their children enough to parent them correctly.

But we digress.

The article says:

The results showed that parents who were “indulgent,” or big on warmth, but not so much on accountability (think, the “best friend” parent) tripled the risk of heavy drinking in their child, while parents who were “authoritarian,” or overly strict—high on accountability but low when it came to warmth—doubled their child’s risk. Teens whose parents had high levels of both warmth and accountability were the least likely to indulge in heavy drinking. This parenting style was classified as “authoritative.”

What a surprise! Who would have thought?

It seems that if you want to keep your kid from turning into a nuisance, you actually have to parent properly.

Food for thought.

Although one has to question the value of imbibing anything that will destroy one’s brain cells anyway. ANY parent who models that behavior is modeling self-destruction for their child.

Would you set and example for your child via the use of illegal drugs, drag racing, having unprotected sex, smoking, operating machinery without safety glasses, re-wiring electrical circuits with the power on?

If “friendship” with your child is more important than parenting,  then it pays to plan in advance. Please save up your money for stomach pumps, bailing your kid out of jail for drunk driving, and counseling. We don’t want to foot the bill for your irresponsibility.

In the meantime, you might want to ask yourself why you are so insecure that you need to drink to have a good time while socializing, and why your abilities to be social are so substandard, and why it is that you criticize autistics for being asocial when you are not much better at being social yourself.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.