Alcohol
- Dec 23
- 2009
Editor’s Web Note: I hope today’s column gives pause to parents who think they are doing the right thing by allowing booze parties in their homes. I have empathy for the mindset behind them, we all want our kids to be safe, but it sends the wrong message. And as you’ll read, though teens like these parties and the parents who throw them, the majority don’t respect them. Teens really are looking for role models and people that will help them rise above negative influences. Putting booze in their face contradicts what they’d really like to hear from adults. —Lauren
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My son is 18, a senior, and I recently met one his friend’s parents. I was floored when she told me she allows kids to drink at her house as long as they stay the night. She said lots of parents do this and assured me the kids are being responsible and that if anyone…
- Oct 14
- 2009
Editor’s Web Note: Alcohol is often used to “find out who someone really is”. But is the evil it can lay bare someone’s ‘true’ psychological nature, or is it born of the alcohol? Any insights? Please write us. — Lauren
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m a 16-year-old girl and my brother is 13. Our alcoholic stepfather gets drunk every night and becomes verbally abusive toward all of us, especially my brother. He screams and yells at him, constantly putting him down and calling him “sissy” and “faggot.” He does not…
- Dec 17
- 2008
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My boyfriend wants to let his sons throw a New Year’s Eve overnight party, with alcohol, rationalizing that it will be safer than an unsupervised party where kids might drive, over-drink, or do other stupid things. His sons are19 and 16 and knowing them, it will be a huge…
- Oct 1
- 2008
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I am the daughter and granddaughter of alcoholics. As a recovering alcoholic, I haven’t had a drink in 21 years. So far, two of my children have the disease of alcoholism. My 16-year-old daughter spent time in a locked-down psych ward for attempted suicide, followed by…
- Apr 30
- 2008
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I have a gripe. Over the years, I’ve been to tons of parties and seen tons of drug and alcohol use, even from my closest friends whom I respect. Now, at college, the “need to party” is even stronger. I’ve tried pot and I drink sometimes, but my choice has been to not use…
- Feb 6
- 2008
Dear Straight Talk: I am disappointed in your response to “No longer Supermom,” whose daughter began drinking, smoking marijuana, flunking out of school, and had moved into her dad’s house where there were no rules. This girl is crying for help. The mother should intervene like a hammer…
- Dec 26
- 2007
Dear Straight Talk: I am living with a foster family because my mother can’t stop drinking. Last Christmas, she and my stepfather, “Grant,” got really drunk and started fighting. My mother would always start the fights and would try to get Grant to hit her. This time I thought Grant was…