Underage Drinking: Better Parenting Decreases Number of Cases in the Past 10 Years

Underage drinking is a major problem in all the developing societies of the world. Not only does it present various health risks, but it can also result in serious accidents and promiscuous behavior. So it is a very good thing that new studies show that better parenting strategies have helped in producing a decline in the cases of underage drinking.

The legal drinking age in the United States is 21, but many underage high school and college students engage in the activity as a result of peer pressure and a litany of other reasons. Underage drinking has also presented itself as a problem in the United Kingdom, with children as young as 11 to 15 years old being reported to have tried alcoholic beverages, according to The Guardian.

In 2003, the figures in the UK show that 61% of 11 to 15 year olds have tried alcohol, but thanks to better parenting practices this number has dropped to almost half, at 38% in 2014. A study by the Institute of Alcohol Studies in the United Kingdom has attempted to explain this drastic drop.

The results of the study has led experts to theorize that the youth turning their backs on alcohol is a backlash against their parents, possibly after seeing the negative effects of alcohol consumption. Another plausible theory is that the rising prices of alcoholic drinks have deterred young people from spending on them. The most believed explanation is that stricter parenting has led to this massive decline.

"This report takes an important first step towards understanding why underage drinking has fallen, which is critical if we are to maintain the welcome progress of recent years and prevent a reversal of this trend," says the director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, Katherine Brown. Whatever the case, it is definitely good to see that underage drinking could be coming to a screeching halt in the next few years.