More Kids Drinking Alcohol

You might be amazed at how many kids are drinking alcohol, but you'll probably be even more amazed to find where they get their drinks.

Surprisingly it looks like many kids don't have to look much further than their own family.

I'm purposefully avoiding the use of the word teenage since it looks like even younger kids are drinking alcohol these days. We know that drinking early on is more likely to lead to serious problems with alcohol after 21, especially if a child starts drinking before they turn 15.

A newly released report form the government shows that right now over 700 youngsters between the ages of 12 to 14 are drinking alcohol. I'm not sure that's a big surprise to most since this has been an issue for years. But what is more shocking is that in the past month alone, over 200,000 of them have gotten their alcohol from a parent, guardian or other family member.

Granted, some of these kids took the liquor on the sly, but over 1/4 of them got their alcohol because a parent or other adult relative gave it to them, using excuses like — “I’d rather them drink at home than on the street, or, at least they aren't using drugs.”

The problem is this can still lead to issues with alcoholism later in life. So your best bet, parents, is to lock up your alcohol and have a frank talk with your kids as to why they can't drink any, no matter where they get it from.