The American Academy of Pediatrics says you need to talk to your kids about drinking—before they’re a teenager. Before they’re a proper tween, really.
NBC News reports on the new guidelines:
“Surveys indicate that children start to think positively about alcohol between ages 9 and 13 years. The more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, and if they are already drinking, this exposure leads them to drink more,” Dr. Lorena Siqueira, a Miami pediatrician, and colleagues write in the journal Pediatrics.
“Therefore, it is very important to start talking to children about the dangers of drinking as early as 9 years of age,” concluded Siqueira and her colleagues. But what are you supposed to say to a nine-year-old about drinking? With the caveat that I know less than nothing about childrearing, here is a sample script:
Parent: Sit down. Sit down. Sit still. We need to talk.
Nine-year-old: [Refuses to put down Gameboy/iPhone/American Girl doll/whatever.]
Parent: Put that down.
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