By January 3, 2012 Read More →

Beer Pong For Teens?

Well, OK so it is not really “beer’ pong, but my 14 year old was at a friend’s house over the long weekend and she was telling me how she and her friend soundly kicked the collective butts of two other friends in “soda pong.”

OK, it is not beer and at 14 that is a good thing. But I did a double take as it seems like it is a bit of pre-gaming for the real thing.  I am not naive enough to think that they will not drink underage; but do we need to even remotely encourage it? What’s next?

I am a bit conflicted. Should I have a discussion with the other parent? Dis-encourage my daughter from future overnights?  Am I out of line? Do any of your kids play soda-pong?

 

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7 Comments on "Beer Pong For Teens?"

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  1. Amy says:

    I think the further you move the line – the further the line is. I am not a parent that believes let them drink in my house so I know where they are. I believe the answer is no. Let them be scared to death of drinking and getting caught – and if they get caught discuss together what the punishment should be. Why do parents thinks they need to be their kids friends? Be their parents. There are many other activities that do not duplicate what drinking games college kids play. I would not allow my daughter to get in to deep with that crowd – maybe encourage her to expand her social circles and even plan some age appropriate fun activities to do with her friends.
    As far as saying something to the other parent – they obviously see nothing wrong with it – and most likely will say to their kid “guess who called and complained about the soda game” which could lead to your daughter not being included and them making fun of her. I also believe in constantly talking to your kids – “make good choices” is my mantra with my daughter – it empowers her, lets her know I trust her and ultimately the choices she makes are hers. I am here to guide her but she needs to suffer the repercussions of the choices she makes – good and bad. Keep the line close – make crossing it something she will truly think about and if she does discuss a consequence with her and stick to it. Good luck – the fact that you even raised the question shows that you’re on the right track!

  2. Laura Papera says:

    Your story made me chuckle and reminded me of my days in high school and college as a park instructor. When the kids were super bored, we would pull out cans of warm soda and play quarters. At the time, we thought nothing of it and the kids thought it was hilarious. To this day, every time I see some of my former kids we laugh about it. I guess we all took it in stride, as did the parents, since no one ever complained, and none of my kids suffered any long term effects. While I applaud your concern, I think these days parents sometimes tend to put more stock in things that may just be plain innocent fun. If your daughter is a good kid (and she is), she’ll make the.right decisions, regardless of what she’s exposed to.

  3. Susan says:

    I did a double take too when I heard that my son and friends were allowed to play at a friend’s home. My son is 14 too, and when he and his friends wanted to play at my house, my first instinct was NO, but I was caught off guard and allowed it. After thinking about it, I’m glad I let them play. They were just having fun and there was nothing wrong with that. If anything, I hope they learned that they didn’t need the beer to make it fun.

  4. John says:

    Thanks Amy—I agree 100% with you

  5. thanks for the info, I’ve save a lot of time searching on the web. this could help me improve. by the way, have you been to arizona?

  6. Ash says:

    Yes I am 14 and I play soda pong with my friends at party’s all the time.

  7. abby says:

    im 16 years of age and i play gag pong, water pong and soda pong, gag pong makes it fun, you put a bunch of nasty things in cups and have to drink it (no alcohol) honestly its harmless fun, i never in a million years thought to put alchohol in those cups. my parents are absolutely okay with it and sometimes they play with me,if you dont think anything of it, nothing happens.

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