4th Graders Drinking?

I was reading USA Today on Tuesday while I was flying and was pretty shocked to see the results of a survey of over 37,000 school children by Pride Surveys that showed:

• 4.9% of 4^th graders
• 8.6% of 5^th graders
• And 12.9% of 6^th graders had alcohol in the past year.

With little kids, this is pretty scary. Some of it is peer pressure, but at this age, parents can play a strong role.

“There is a fairly sizable amount of literature showing that the earlier people start to drink, or even have their first drink, the more likely they are to have problems later in life with alcohol, drugs, delinquency, risky sexual behavior (and) motor vehicle accidents.” John Donovan, associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center