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Children and Alcohol

Even if you keep all the alcohol in your house locked in a cabinet with a key that only you know where it is—or no liquor in the house at all—it is still possible for your child to get her hands on some to test it out.

Children are curious little people, and even young ones want to know what the big deal is about alcohol.

Unfortunately, preventative measures are limited because of this high curiosity. This means that, no matter what you do to try to prevent it, they will try harder to bypass whatever you come up with.

There are many ways that parents can choose to inform their children about alcohol and its dangers. Some may actually work to prevent kids from testing alcohol, and some may even work to help prevent them becoming regular drinkers when they grow up. But, since each method is different and each child is different, there is no one guaranteed way. Instead, parents just have to try everything until they find something that works.

The following are a few ideas for preventative measures that have been supplied by parents who have used them. None of them are guaranteed to work, but they are all worth trying:

• Talk to them early and often—
Repetition is the key to getting a point across to a child. They often stop listening after a while, so make the conversations short and to the point, but talk about it all the time.

You also need to make sure that you begin this conversation long before they ever ask for a drink or try to sneak one. The more alcohol that is around the child, the earlier this discussion should be held.

• Make them aware of its effects—
Even if you try to never drink in front of your child, they will likely see it on TV and more, so you should make them aware of the danger that it can be. Let them see a movie where alcohol has caused health problems, etc.
Some parents believe that children shouldn’t be hidden from the real effects of alcohol, such as if they have a relative with a drinking problem. Not that they should necessarily be subjected to the drunkenness or any of that part of it, but just that they should know how damaging it is to that person’s life.

There is no right or wrong way, and with children nothing is guaranteed. But, putting forth effort from the very beginning and never stopping will help ensure a much greater success than never bringing it up.

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