Alcohol at children’s birthday parties — An alarming trend

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 16

Most of the students touching adolescence prefer celebrating their birthdays in restaurants and pubs now, in which parents are not allowed.

May be parents have less time for kids or they want that their wards be independent and have their own space — the reason can be any, but this has become a trend in the industrial capital. Children from middle or upper middle classes organise parties on their own, in which parents are not allowed, but are wanted at the time of paying bills.

While parents feel it is a simple birthday party, the owners of certain restaurants and pubs serve liquor in different forms to kids during such parties, for which they pay from their own pockets, so that parents do not come to know.

A concerned mother said when she went to take back her 15-year-old daughter, she found that the waiters were offering lemons to a few children. On being asked, she got to know that some children had consumed alcohol and wanted to look “normal” before rushing back to home.

Nita Khanna, counsellor at Sacred Heard Senior Secondary School, said it was an alarming trend which needs to be controlled. “The relationship of parents and children should be trustworthy and strong. Parents should keep a check on the friends of their wards, their whereabouts, the company they have and the peer pressure on each other (children). Children are in that stage, in which they like to experiment, but this can prove dangerous. We cannot put blame on others if our child falls into bad company because, as parents, we are responsible for their upbringing in the best possible manner. We should be friendly towards children and not act as dictators.”

Rashima Mehta, a mother, felt it were parents, who have to take care of their wards. “It is up to us as to how we raise our children. We need to tell them the limits of the family and what’s good or bad for them. We must provide them some freedom, but not at the cost of ruining their lives. A check on wards is a must till the time he or she understands what life is,” she said.

Harnoor, a Class XII student, said being progressive has nothing to do with late night parties or consuming hard drinks. “Partying for me is having fun with friends, dancing and enjoying the occasion. When I am away on any party, my parents know with whom I am partying and where I am. At times, they make surprise visits too and I do not mind because I know they are concerned,” said Harnoor.