Seriousness of Giving a Child Alcohol Should bring Grave Response

   If you were to solve the world's problems, you could not overlook this one: alcohol. About 40 percent of our murders and half of our rapes, it is said, are connected with alcohol. Families are harmed. Jobs are lost. The person on alcohol can lose too much of his ability to control himself.
   So, if you were to solve it, how would you solve this problem? One answer would be to start with children. Train the child up right, and some of the problem might be avoided. Instill in the child correct principles, and later in life, he or she will be more likely to hold to them.
   When I read that according to one report one in four children who drank in the past year did so in the home and with their parent's approval, it underscored to me the need to teach the children correctly. Much of our problem is that it is being handed down from generation to generation. A person who thinks it not wrong to drink is not likely to teach his or her children that it is wrong. To the contrary, they are likely to introduce the child to alcohol.
   Such a thing should not be. And, yes, we could do something about it. Teaching a child to drink is a grave offense, considering all the things drinking can contribute to. It is abuse of the child to introduce them to alcohol. If we already have a law classing it as child abuse, we are not using that law. Neighbors would do the child well to report any incidence of a parent (or any adult) giving a child a drink, or making it available to them. We should realize the gravity of the child being introduced to alcohol, fear how it will affect the child's life, and rush to save the child.
   Zero tolerance? The lives of children hang in the balance. We -- society -- should be very concerned for them. Social workers should be called in to interview the children when alcohol is suspected of being made available. And, parents found guilty of this form of child abuse should be accorded the punishments reserved for child abusers. Does that mean the child is removed from their care? I fear it should be considered, so serious is the offense. I wonder if on first offense, the parent might be spoken to, asked whether they see how serious of a thing they are doing. When the parent understands, and indicates remorse, perhaps the child might be left with the parent. Or, is it too hard to catch them, that we should let them off scot-free when they are caught even for the first time?