Personal responsibility goes out the window...

[R6_kid:Me]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10644213

WOW! A doctor with a son who went to a fancy private school has failed to educate her son on the dangers of stealing grandmas vodka and drinking the whole bottle is now telling John Key he needs to do his job and make it harder to get alcohol?

Where was she when this was happening? Where was the family/friends that should have been looking after him after he put away a 1L bottle of Vodka?

Why is this the governments fault? The vodka was in the cupboard at someones house, and wasn't kept out of reach to a group of under-age drinkers at an 18th birthday party...

Her letter raves on about assualt, rape and binge drinking. These are cultural issues, and I'd say that not all rapes and assaults are related to alcohol abuse. It is a parents responsibility to instil morals and values in their children such that it should not be the schools, or the Goverments problem to deal with these social delinquents who fail to understand what acceptable behaviour is - and yet the Goverment and school are the ones that end up doing so.

In most cases alcohol abuse by under-age youths is learnt behavour from what they have observed their own parents and family doing - or picked up from other people in the cases where their parents and family have failed to educate them on what acceptable alcohol use is.

[mashman]

The problem is that in order to properly "educate" your child you need to get them shitfaced. That means that the parent has to break the law... LMAO @ personal responsibility in 15 - 16 yr olds...

[rainman]

Um, she's not the kid's mother. Just has a kid at the same school, and an opinion, and is a doctor, so has some cred for some media exposure.

I think she's right. If you remove all regulations (the other extreme to what she's proposing) more kids would drink themselves to death - how many have any self-control at that age? I didn't, not even when I was much older. More regulations won't stop everything like this happening, to be sure, but perhaps they'll discourage it a bit.

Got any better suggestions to fix the culture here?

[Mully]

Um, she's not the kid's mother. Just has a kid at the same school, and an opinion, and is a doctor, so has some cred for some media exposure.

Yeah - what he said.

[phill-k]

Agree totally R6 - blinged
rainman it comes down to parent responsibility fair and square, its time we stopped blaming others for our own failings!!!

[firefighter]

observed their own parents and family doing - or picked up from other people in the cases where their parents and family have failed to educate them on what acceptable alcohol use is.

Disagree. I'd have to say it's picked up from movies, like American Pie, (not calling it the devil here!) and from their friends. I'd say most parents a reasonably responsible when it comes to this stuff. The "who can drink the most" shit is school yard stuff. He probably believed the over-heard tripe that goes around of "I finished a whole bottle of Jacks/Beam" and thought he would be ok.

[bogan]

sounds like she is jumping on the nanny state bandwagon. At some point people need to take personal responsibility, its up to the parents to decide when their children reach that stage, and to make sure they actually do reach that stage!

[p.dath]

Agree totally R6 - blinged
rainman it comes down to parent responsibility fair and square, its time we stopped blaming others for our own failings!!!

Not wishing to take any sides - but what do you do when the parents don't take resposnsibility? Accept the issues as a society or do something about it as a society?
The old "nanny state" versus "keep the Government out of my life" scenario.

[firefighter]

I think she's right. If you remove all regulations (the other extreme to what she's proposing) more kids would drink themselves to death - how many have any self-control at that age? I didn't, not even when I was much older. More regulations won't stop everything like this happening, to be sure, but perhaps they'll discourage it a bit.

I KNOW she is wrong. I was the only one whole could just get away with buying alcohol in my group. We drank a lot, we are all still alive. Whenever we could'nt get booze, we found a way. Usually by doing the same thing, and stealing a bottle from someones parents, or bribing someone to buy it for us.

More rules makes it harder. It wo'nt even slightly discourage a damn thing.

[onearmedbandit]

Got any better suggestions to fix the culture here?

From what I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, but certain European countries (I believe France may be one of them) where children are introduced to alcohol at a younger age in a controled environment have a much lower incidence of 'binge drinking' and other social harms that abuse brings. Maybe by putting it up on the top shelf and keeping it out of their reach, while all the wise adults enjoy themselves by indulging, has the exact opposite effect than what we hoped for.

[firefighter]

Accept the issues as a society or do something about it as a society?.

You know, I think the smartest way of dealing with the issue of stupid people killing themselves because they are well.....stupid, is to either let them do it, or educate them that sculling a bottle of vodka will kill you.

You ca'nt tell kids that "drinking is bad. m,kay." Actually showing evidence of adults who have killed themselves from drinking in excess is about all that can be done. The rest is up to the individual.

I truely beleive that, other that making alcohol illegal, this is the only real solution.

You ca'nt make a horse drink the water.

[phill-k]

p.dath I take your point however why do we have to create "rules" all the time for the lowest common denominator, especially rules that then penalise everyone else.
I love the fact the headmaster and others have all come out and said what a great person this child was - he lied to his parents, and stole from his grandmother, at sixteen he obviously was not responsible enough, or hadn't yet grasped right and wrong and thus should not have had the freedom to do as he was. The parents should have scrutinised his stated intentions more throughly, a simple phone call to the supposed parents where he was staying for the night, thats what my mum used to do.

[Latte]

Kids these days seem to be told what they can and can't do from day 1. They have little opportunity to learn limits/boundaries, and how to test them safely , and results from stepping over them. Then when they become young adults, and have a lot more freedom, without the skills to meter it , they reach and cross limits with much worse results.

Each subsequent generation seems to have relied less on common sense, and more on regulation than the one prior. I beleive this "relates" to the direction society is taking (vicious cycle etc).

"All of the above is my opinion only - but it's right (of course)"

[mashman]

p.dath I take your point however why do we have to create "rules" all the time for the lowest common denominator, especially rules that then penalise everyone else.
I love the fact the headmaster and others have all come out and said what a great person this child was - he lied to his parents, and stole from his grandmother, at sixteen he obviously was not responsible enough, or hadn't yet grasped right and wrong and thus should not have had the freedom to do as he was. The parents should have scrutinised his stated intentions more throughly, a simple phone call to the supposed parents where he was staying for the night, thats what my mum used to do.

And then have the kids throw it in the face of the parents that they aren't trusting them? Yeah i can see that working well with hormonal teenagers... just a little peer pressure gone wrong

[firefighter]

said what a great person this child was - he lied to his parents, and stole from his grandmother, at sixteen he obviously was not responsible enough, or hadn't yet grasped right and wrong and thus should not have had the freedom to do as he was..

Cummon. That's a pretty unfair summation of the kid. I'd say he probably was a really nice kid, and probably had a pretty bright future. I doubt he had a callous bone in his body. He stole a bottle of vodka, ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... !!!! You never steal the odd bits of booze off the olds and tell the odd fib? That does'nt make him a bad kid, it makes him the same as every other kid, just by the sounds of it, for the first time in his life!

I have read the first half of that fuddy duddies letter. What a pile of tripe. Her so called teaching or messages she tries to get through about "alcohol abuse" will be laughed at by teenagers.

As I stated earlier, teaching how NOT to drink, ie, a sculled bottled of vodka WILL kill you unless you are very lucky, will probably sink in more than "binge drinking is'nt cool" and "drinking is for fools yawl!". I bet she comes up with stupid catch phrases that the kids will take the piss out of as they play circle of death/around the world/4 kings etc........