When should you start having the conversation with your children about drinking alcohol? Early teens? Late teens?
This is the question many parents are facing, and during the Kid's Clinic on The Hard Shoulder, Dr Richard Hogan had some thoughts on the topic.
He said: "I think this is probably one of the most challenging issues for parents across the board.
"I've experienced it myself from the father to a 16 year old girl. I think we all deal with this one and we struggle because, you know, we're asking them to abstain from something that is deeply embedded into the cultural and social world of the adult.
"We use alcohol to celebrate. We use alcohol for communions, christenings, birthdays, parties, Christmas. So it's deeply embedded into our cultural world.
"Then we're telling [our kids] to abstain from it. And then when they get old enough, let's say 16, 17, 18, as they're moving towards adults, they're going to experiment.
"Adolescence is all about adventure. It's all about exploration. And I think parents can really struggle with this one."
While some parents might wonder if they should allow their teens to drink at home, but some studies have shown that it might encourage them to drink more as they get older.
Dr Hogan also hypothesised that parents today have more of a desire not to say no to their children and trying to be all things to their kids.
However, parents need to be the ones to have the tough conversations and make the hard decisions for the best interest of their children.
He continued: "The most important thing is having that communication with your children more than the rules and ramifications, which I'm a big believer in.
"Having the ability to have that connection where you can have conversations around it.
"I'd ask my kid, 'Why is it that you want to drink? Is it that you like the taste of it or is it that you don't want to be the only person not drinking?'
"Asking those kinds of questions is really important because the true gift of parenting is allowing your child to make decisions for themselves that are the right ones, not the ones just that their parents want."
Main image: Generic photo of a teenager drinking alcohol.
