I seem to blog almost every day about parents who refuse to be parents and provide their children with alcohol. Alcohol certainly increases the chances that something negative will happen in your life. That said - why would a parent supply their kid with booze?
The following is a true story of why parents should not furnish alcohol for their kids.
A Canadian woman provided two or three beers to her 14-year-old son in the hours before he drowned Sunday in shallow waters of Lake Ontario behind Old Fort Niagara.
Paula Montgomery and a family friend are charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, in the death of her son, Alexander, who was part of a group from Orillia, Ont., participating in a War of 1812 re-enactment at the fort in Youngstown.
These were people who were responsible for his safety, and if they had adhered to common sense, and the law, this probably wouldn't have happened. A 14-year-old drinking that quantity of beer is illegal, and it's wrong.
Adults are allowed to bring alcohol onto the grounds of Old Fort Niagara, and teenagers frequently participate in re-enactment events at the fort.
But the drowning is prompting the organization that operates the fort to re-examine some of its practices.
It's likely he hit his head during the fall, and the death appears accidental, but alcohol probably played a role.
Alexander's death is raising the question of why a mother would provide alcohol to a teen. Parents be smart and do your job. The lives of many people will forever be affected by this mother’s decision to allow her son to drink.