Spiked drinks or naïve parents

I have been trying to hold back my comments as I would not like to hurt the feelings of parents. However, as more articles are published and more parents show their surprise at how youngsters get drunk and become sick in just a few hours, I cannot but ask the question: Were the drinks spiked as the parents seem to suggest or are these parents just too naïve to realise they are being taken for a ride by their sons and daughters?

As a young person myself who still attends such parties, I must conclude that the latter is the case.

Either that or else the parents actually know the truth but are in denial about the fact that their "babies" are now adults who drink at parties and sometimes drink too much and feel sick with all the consequences.

For those who have never been to such parties, it might sound absurd that a person could, in just a few hours, end up in a totally inebriated state. The young people who go to these parties regularly are well aware of how easy it is to get there.

First of all, given the fun, the build-up and the fact that the bars are open, one tends to drink more than usual, although one does not need to go to one of the many open bar parties to get drunk.

Secondly, and particularly so for girls, the amount of food eaten before drinking and the person's actual size are very important factors in how quickly one can get drunk.

A third and important element is the particular circumstances that occur on New Year's Eve, especially the time element. Everyone knows that the climax of the evening is the countdown to midnight. This means that people drink their way to this climax in the hope that by the stroke of midnight they will be in a "happy" state and have the best time possible in the first hours of the incoming year.

No matter how much one is told and no matter how many experiences one has of being drunk and of the subsequent hangovers, when one is having fun and the drinks are flowing, it is with great difficulty that one thinks about the consequences.

And now to the parents. While never completely ruling out the possibility that a young person feels sick as a result of other things, apart from the alcohol content, I find it surprising that in this day and age parents are so gullible as to believe their sons and daughters when they tell them they got completely knackered with just two drinks. I'm sure the parents themselves, in their young age, had tried to get away with a drunken night out by telling their parents it must have been the chicken they had before the party or the food they ate from some dodgy place that had upset them. And their parents probably believed them as they now believe their sons and daughters. Why? As I said earlier either because they are simply gullible or, more likely, because they want to believe that their sons and daughters are still the angels they were at birth and that they would never go against their parents' teaching that getting drunk is "bad".

Parents need to be more realistic and sharp. They need to wake up and smell the coffee, or the alcohol in this case. They need to communicate better with their children so that they know what they are doing and understand them better. They need to be practical and know that the possibility that their offspring will get drunk is quite likely and, thus, guide them on how to control themselves and what to do in the situation - like never drive home but ask for help.

But, above all, they need to start asking questions like: Why is my son lying to me? Is it possible that at a party of about 3,000 only your son and a few others got drunk because of something in the drinks or is it more probable that he is giving you excuses? If this is the case, then there is a problem of trust or simply your children feel and know they can fool you because you are gullible.

By not being realistic and taking everything at face value you are giving them reason to believe they are right.