Article on Dane teen dying of drink, highest rate of teen drinking in Europe

[MidwestMom]

http://www.medindia.com/news/Binge-D...rk-24190-1.htm

A real tragedy and imo what happens when teen drinking is not only allowed but encouraged. Obviously, something must be done to stop encouraging this, at least imo. I can't imagine trips like this actually sanctioned by parents???? or the government??? You would think they would be aggressively trying to stop this from happening. JMO

[Rotsne]

Yes, he shouldn't have left Denmark. He was cheated by a drug which fools the body to think that he could drink more than his health could take.

Beware that they cheat turists down there. While Bulgaria has no other options than offering these vacations because their country is destroyed by 50 years of communist rule a huge business like this invites rootless people also. Before Bulgaria it was Ibiza - a Spanish island, who had the title of the binge drinking capital for European youth.

Denmark is not the only country to sent youth downthere for binge drink vacations. They are offered in most European countries. This death was the first binge-drink related death we had this year. Beside this tragic incident 3 girls got drug raped downthere also and a young girl from Sweden lost her life in a similar matter a couple of months later.

Our healthcare department has forbidden the travel agencies to have photos of youth below 18 smiling in their ads. As of November 2008 they are not allowed to sell a message about meeting youth from foreign countries in a relaxed environment, so the binge-drinking holidays are now for +18 years only unless the youth lies when entering the website and convince their parents to let them go anyway.

They are also discoraged to offer "read-holyday vacations", which have been in the market for the last 10 years.

We are generally trying to keep our youth at home where we have more regulation. It seems that it is a general trend. In the UK they have warned Brits to go abroad to certain countries because the local people have difficulties to understand how normal turists conduct themselves:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1414337.ece

Being a father of two children I would forbid them to leave Denmark until they are 18 unless I travel with them. There are really nothing to see for youth and even when joined by other adults it means to heavy a burden to these adults.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...lph_cheer.html

I would take responsibility for my kids any time. No other adults should bear this burden. Not some staff in a travel agency. Not some other parents. I just hope that other parents see it in the same way.

This young man who lost his life in Bulgaria was as far as I see it neglected by his parents because they allowed him to leave his country and culture.

[MidwestMom]

What about the high alcohol rates? The most in Europe? That's A LOT of drinking going on.
So you think young adults should never leave Denmark or else it's the fault of the other country, not a drinking culture? I am shocked that kids can take this kind of mass drinking vacation at all. I suspect, however, that one can drink as much right in the home country at a party if the parents aren't paying attention or if they aren't home.
Unfortunately, in a drinking culture, this must happen in your country. I know some people die of alcohol poisoning here, and we use less alcohol than you. In fact, you encourage your young to drink. Some people are prone to alcoholism and should not drink at all. There are genetic links to alcoholism. My youngest is adopted and her birthfamily has substance abuse issues. She knows she is at higher risk to abuse drugs/alcohol if she gets involved, but so far does not seem to be one who will. And we certainly aren't about the encourage her.
Anyway JMO. You got me curious so I looked up Danish teens drinking and saw this and a few other articles, which I won't post. But I was shocked.

[tiredmommy]

MWM- what's the point of this? Are you trying to pick some kind of fight with Rotsne? FWIW, we don't need to defend our culture and he doesn't need to defend his. They are different than us and do things differently than us. So be it. The nation of Denmark has approximately the same population as the US state of Maryland. Our numbers will never mesh.

[flutterbee]

Cultural differences aside, I cannot understand why any parent our country would allow - encourage, even - teens or anyone else to go on binge drinking holidays. There is no reasoning for it at all.

[MidwestMom]

TM, you're right. We don't have to. However, it does get tiring to read about how we do everything wrong. From now on, I will not take the bait. The posts against RTCs and how our country deals with mental health have gotten to me, I guess. I apologize and will ignore these from now (sigh). I hope, though, that random posts about RTCs (scare tactic posts) are also not given credence here. To me, his posts do nothing to help, but only try to tear us down and tell us what we are doing wrong in his opinion. But I don't need to join in. Thanks for the reminder.

[tiredmommy]

MWM- The internet is very big place with lots of information (& lots of misinformation) of varying qualities. Personally, I would rather help Rotsne see our mental health system in a more balanced light... both the good and the bad. It may help other lurkers to gain some understanding of the US system, and we can gain some understanding of other systems and cultures as well.

[Rotsne]

Personally I dont mind if some think that our youth are drinking too much.

Here is the numbers: http://www.espad.org/denmark

If you look at the other 50 European countries in this survey a lot of them are very the same.

We are trying to do the same as almost all other countries. Trying to find a strategy to handle crimes and social unrest.

Here are some statistic.

Prison population:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/rese...-list-2005.pdf
Teenage pregnancies:
http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicato...ndicatorID=127
About how we battle DUI:
http://www.jointogether.org/news/hea...-to-youth.html

Maybe I have come off too harsh in some relations. I realized that even down to small things we are very different. I was looking for way to introduce my daughter to the work space and in most countries volunteer work or internships would be a perfect path.

But:

1) Here internships are heavily guarded by the trade unions. More than 85 percent of the workforce are member of a trade union. It takes forever for them to accept that a person could work for free.
2) All that just remind of community service make future employers start to check up of criminal records. Community service is for punishment only in a society that pays more than 50 percent of all income in taxes. I have seen schools abroad where community service is a part of the curriculum. It would means no employment or a McJob career for the students if that came out.

Culture differences are huge.

[MidwestMom]

TM, you're so right. I will try to remember

Rotsne, I think drinking is a big problem everywhere, and worse in Europe. It is an issue everywhere, but I can't understand WANTING kids to drink. It is untrue that all kids will drink. I like it better our way, not that it's a guarantee. But many people here do not drink.

[TerryJ2]

Scary stuff, in any country. What a waste of a young person's life and future.
We have something similar here. It's called Spring Break. I am amazed at how many parents allow their kids to fly to the Caribbean and do exactly what the Danish article said. Some parents go along and party just as hard.
It's like they are aliens. I just can't comprehend it.

We have worked hard to teach our kids that alcohol can be a danger, or it can be used wisely as a sort of treat, like dessert. It's not something you have to have. But if it's given too much attention, kids will naturally want to experiment. A fine line, indeed.

We have seen drunks on our streets, my gfg was accosted by a drunk on a Belgian street, and we have walked through clouds of pot smoke in Amsterdam. (The best aversion technique ever, LOL!) We have also thrown parties at home where we serve wine to guests. No one has ever gotten drunk, but we always make sure the kids hear us question one another as to whether anyone needs a ride home. Nothing to be embarrassed about, just a normal thing, like wearing a seatbelt.

We are very lucky that so far, the way we have raised our kids has paid off.

In fact, our PC has applied to 5 universities and has changed her mind about one, based on their reputation as a party school, which was exemplified by an overnight there on Halloween. She dressed up like a kitty cat and drove all the way there on her own, met up w/a graduate from her HS (who now lives on the U campus) and they went to sororities and other parties.
PC was having a great time, feeling very welcome, and in particular, invited to join one particular sorority, until they offered her a beer, and she said, "No thank you, I don't drink."
The sorority girl sneered and said, "Then maybe you don't want to join our sorority," and walked off in a huff.
(My mom and sisters were in sororities and would freak at that comment.)

This univ. has a reputation as a party school and PC wants to be an artist. She loves kids and wants to dbl major in education. I am so proud of her.

So far, so good. I CAN be done.