Teenage Drinking

"She was drinking with friends at a hotel, she was admitted into a hospital in Sydney as a consequence of that drinking," Mr Garrett said. 

Yes, Mr. Garretts's 19 year old daughter has been into hospital for drinking too much. One thing is for sure. It is better out in the open. The number of parents who are trying to cope with binge drinking and who try and cope alone or hide it is more than I care to think about. Too many. The drinking is not within their control. Police would want parents to be talking to their children about what to do when they are far too drunk. Some parents don't want to be involved and then something awful happens. I understand the line...you have done the drinking , so I am not running after you. I understand it but the consequences for a drunk teenager these days are quite severe and it is a high risk activity. So I am glad this is out in the open because more parents might be able to help each other . There is a trend through the the media and social networking which makes drinking  far too much quite normal. It is kind of like a  game and you can head for the next level. It can be seen in high profile performers this dare and double dare approach to drinking. Get a drink, get to 18, get to the pass out stage...whatever. Game on. We need a better way of dealing with this...and upfront, out in the open, tackle it for what it is, is probably a good way to go.