Prevention from the Beginning |
| To prevent alcohol problems you have to start from the very first
beginning, when the child is just born. The parents have to take the consequences of what
they have done. To have a child is a responsibility for at least 20 years. It is important
that the parents set limits already when the child is one year old. If the parents do not
manage to set limits then, how can they ever manage to do it when the child is a youth? Children should not have to decide about things that they are not mature enough to do. A 3-year-old child is not mature to make a decision if he should go to a pree-school or a childminder. But he can make a decision of what kind of colour he would like to wear on his socks, blue or green. When one is at home with a child, one could go to the early learning centre where mums, dads and children in the same situation meet. A pree-school teacher works there, she supports the parents in their roles as parents. They discuss how important limits are, that parents are models for the children etc. She supports young parents in the family role. A family must have stability from the beginning, so one does not fall apart when something little happens. The child gets a good self-confidence when they have a secure home environment. A child with good self-confidence does not have to impress friends. The youth alcohol problem can become a smaller problem if more youths have a good self-confidence. Then they do not have to impress friends about how much they can drink. |