Alcohol fun times.

Does anyone who reads this watch Glee? I found it ironic that the night I chose to have a drinking night, was the same day they had their Alcohol Awareness episode. It was a good episode, but seeing all the TV reviews and such - have they gone too far? stuff like that - kind of makes me roll my eyes.

Teenagers are going to drink. You can try to stop them. You can enforce curfews, ground them, do whatever the heck you want. You know what that's going to do? It's going to make them want to drink more. All it's doing is opressing their natural urge to experiment and explore.

My own mother was very open about this stuff: sure, try it, what the hey. But if I was going to get drunk while underaged, she wanted me to do it at home. If I was at a friends, I had my cell phone to call my grampa if I needed to get home. She didn't approve, but she knew it would happen, and instead of trying to tell me "no" she said, "I know" and gave me ways to be safe. I never really got drunk as an underaged teen. A few times, sure, but never at clubs or parties or while sneaking...because I didn't have to sneak.

Now as a legal adult, I don't want to go out and get drunk and party with my friends. I'll sit with my mom and have a few beers, and I'm more than okay with that.

It goes for everything, not just alcohol. There's sex, the ever-evil marijuana. People are going to try things. It's kind of a part of life. I'm not saying I agree with anyone doing illegal acts, but it's going to happen, and trying to lock those urges up in a vault doesn't help. It makes the urge stronger.

I began smoking while underaged, sneaking it from my mom and such. As soon as she found out, it kind of lost it's...flavor? It became dull. The more lenient you are with kids - in my opinion - the less they feel the need to hide things.

Everyone has their own parenting style though, and I'm really not trying to preach. I'm just saying: think back to when you were a teenager. Remember how you felt about this.

You can tell people about your own mistakes, but you can't force them to not make their own. We learn from mistakes, but only from our own. Your horrifying experience at =insert something here= and you telling me about it, doesn't mean I won't ever do it. If it sucks for you, you tell me, but also give me pointers on where else to go/do, then kudos. I might not do the original super sucky thing.