Bayside Church

I was reading an article in the local paper today that frustrated me. It was about how "parents are feeling "pressured" to allow their children host and attend alcohol-fuelled parties"

Come on, really! We as parents are not back in high school ourselves, we are not teenagers we are parents. It's time we started acting like parents and taking responsibility for raising responsible adults who will be an asset to this country.

The role of a parent is to set boundaries for the children, not the other way round!

Hey Forbo
Found the article you mentioned -http://www.leadernews.com.au/article/2008/05/20/35565_sbv_news.html

It's pretty outrageous. I think many parents are too scared to say no to their kids in fear they'll go behind their back and rebel. The thing is kids end up respecting parents more if they stick to boundaries rather than trying to be their best friend.

So True Bella

The difficult thing as a parent is to enforce those boundaries when the youth push them even if there is great pressure or percieved as an unpopular decision.

Youth often push the boundaries because they want to know where they stand. They are looking for security in their lives and things that are solid in a world that is so uncertain.

Very true! If youth don't have boundaries for their life, especially in the area of drinking, then it can lead to problems in the future with alchohol. The whole binge drinking problem will continue and get worse once they do become 18 and can legally buy alchohol because any restraints which society puts on them is taken off.

We can see now why such initiatives as the 2am curfew is being considered by the Melbourne City Council, because people simply do not know how to have a good time without abusing alchohol.