i mentioned in another thread recently, and i think it applies here - our schools are so focussed on academic learning, there doesn't seem to be any focus on LIFE education. i think it could be extremely beneficial for schools to have factual (non-emotive) education on so many topics that are taboo at the moment. alcohol, social drinking, binge drinking, FAS, alcoholism. there is a very brief touch on sex education, but other issues are ignored or passed over. i also think breastfeeding etc could be normalised for future generations if it was discussed openly in schools (which is where i originally posted this thought)

i agree schools have a responsibility for academic learning, but i think society needs that focus shifted. lets face it, some kids simply won't listen to their parents or they won't care. perhaps if it were discussed (not lectured on what they can and can't do - opening a genuine discussion about the impacts etc) it MIGHT have more of an impact. some of the brightest teens (academically) are also some of the worst binge drinkers.... just my thoughts lol


i *think*, at this point, that normalising responsible drinking isn't necessarily a bad thing. if it teaches your children responsible behaviours... i dunno.

discussions like this (and what you do with your own family) will very much come from your own upbringing your own headspace at the time. it's clear from here that we all have different thoughts and motivations to educate our chldren in a particular way. what works in one family dynamic isn't going to work in another. i will admit we have a bar in our home - it's fully stocked, and i could walk in now and make pretty much any ****tail i could think of (provided we have the mixer lol) - personally, for US, it feels like it would be hypocritical to hold a line of zero tolerance when we obviously don't mind a drink. hence my thoughts on responsible and safe drinking being how we will approach the alcohol issue. in the same way as this will work for us, a family in which neither family every drinks would have a very different approach - and that's fine - each family will find their own comfort zone on this. i guess as long as the education doesn't include binge drinking or reliance as being ok, then we'll all find our feet