“I am the mother to a 15-year-old daughter who is a freshman in high school. She attends a prestigious private school and she has great grades and generally makes very good choices.
I have never heard anything out of her about trying drugs or alcohol, but the other day she asked me if it was “cool with me” that she attended a kegger every once in a while.
I am torn because since she chose to go from public to private school, she is no longer with a majority of her friends, and she sees these keggers as a social event and nothing else. I want her to have fun in high school like I did, but I also don’t know if it is right to accept underage drinking. What should I do? — Distraught Mom”
Dear Distraught:
She’s 15.
15!
Last I checked the drinking age in this country is 21. Sure kids will get around that, I did (but not a lot until I got to college), but as a parent you should not condone it. Tell your daughter that she is allowed to see her old friends in other social settings. A kegger is no place for a 15-year-old. So it’s not “cool with you” for her to attend one. You need to be looking out for her well being and not her social status.