It is Completely the FDA's fault

[AndriaD]

So at what point are parents responsible for what their teens do? I mean underage drinking is ravaging the nation from middle schools to college but you don't see the big stink there do you? How about instead of blaming everyone else because some stupid teenager is blowing "big clouds" you start asking yourself where is the mother/father who should be teaching these kids about the world of cause and effect? Sure vaping is pretty tame IMHO but if YOU think teenagers shouldn't be doing it don't you think it is your prerogative to stop it at home with your children? I was told I shouldn't drink coffee as a young man and I didn't for several years. But when I saw a 12 year old with a cup o' Joe I didn't call the cops. I still won't call the cops when I see an 8 year old guzzling down 60 oz's of soda even though I think that is vile and disgusting. It's just the way life is people. We are responsible for ourselves and our youngers. What, you want the government to tell you what your kids should be doing?

I agree with you, about it being the parents' job, not the gov't's. My own efforts to steer my son away from the world of drug abuse had nothing much to do with "it's not good for you," but everything to do with "just look at our lives... if we hadn't been drunks/drug addicts for so long, we wouldn't be so damn poor now!" I think THAT message got thru a LOT more clearly than "don't do it, it's bad for you."

But if parents are sitting in lovely homes, driving lovely, late-model cars, and they have good-paying jobs, yet at night they're drinking themselves insensible... the kid isn't going to get the idea that drinking/drugs could adversely affect his future earning potential. With kids, showing them counts for a lot more than telling them anything; we had to fight tooth and nail just to get to a point where we could SUPPORT just one child, and that wasn't in the lap of luxury -- the boy saw the hard struggle we had, and understood the reason behind it -- and now, has no interest whatever in drugs, and very very little interest even in drinking -- despite his genetic potential for both of those.

Andria

 

[bluecat]

I thought it was Bush's fault?