I'm on record as supporting the idea of parents teaching their children to drink at home. (See especially my blog entry for November 1, 2007, titled "Thinking About Drinking -- and Kids.")

My belief is that when we demonize alcohol, we teach kids to fear rather than respect it. And then we end up with an "underage drinking problem." We end up with, in other words, a drinking problem of our own making.

Anyway, there's a thoughtful piece about this topic by Eric Asimov in today's New York Times.

Instead of resorting to the usual kneejerk "booze is bad, period," he actually did some digging to find out if there's any evidence that kids' attitudes toward alcohol can be shaped by parents at home.

Worth reading.