Today my daughter is celebrating her exam results. Her GCSE grades are very good and, liikely as not, she and her friends are in town drinking in the pubs.
My daughter and her friends are sixteen.
Much has been said recently of drunken youths, loutish behaviour and deterioration of urban nightlife. A lot of attention has been focused on the issues concerned with young people and alcohol. Inevitably blame must be directed at someone and often as not the parents are the easiest target.
But as a parent of teenage children I want to make it clear that I believe I have been responsible. I do not let my children abuse alcohol and that I am therefore exempt from any blame.
But this is rubbish.
I fully accept that right now my 16-year-old daughter is in a pub in this town at this moment and, likely as not, will return drunk late this evening, if at all.
The writing of this in cold ink makes me uncomfortable.
My wife, on hearing of the exam results, proposed that we opened a bottle of champagne with our daughter. In previous holidays abroad we've brought back cases of beer for teenage children. A friend bought her 16-year-old daughter over £100-worth of spirits and alcopops for a birthday party. As parents we are rewarding children with alcohol earlier and earlier in their lives.
The sad thing is that we somehow believe it is other parents elsewhere that have wayward children. Ours are simply enjoying themselves.
I once read that the definition of an alcoholic is "someone you don't like who drinks as much as you".
It is very easy to point fingers of accusation ~ but in truth I do believe we have all been negligent in these matters and we are now beginning to pay for them. It is easy to say the problems are elsewhere with other people. The reality is it is in our homes.