To Be a Strict Parent or a Friend for Children - What Majority Choose

Children have certain rights but the last word should have parents. That was revealed in the course of the survey, held from 9/10/14 to 1/14/15. Meetville (dating app to find the right person) posed the following question: “Would you let your teenager drink alcohol, smoke or do drugs?”

79,122 respondents took part in the poll. From the USA - 87%, from Canada 2%, from Britain - 4%, Australia – 2% and other countries – 5%.

Every parent should be involved in teens’ lives and don’t let them ruin their health. Yvonne Hunt, program director in the National Cancer Institute's Tobacco Control Research Branch, states: “Parents should recognize that it's not too late if their kid has started experimenting with tobacco, or even if they're regular smokers. Parents can really be influential by showing interest and engaging their teens in conversations about it.”

The reasons why teenagers drink alcohol or smoke can be pretty different, it can be just peer influence or even stress relieving. According to MediResource Clinical Team, “Just like adults, kids and teens can use smoking to relieve stress. Nicotine inhaled by cigarettes rapidly activates the reward and pleasures areas of the brain, creating positive feelings and sensations.”

Alex Cusper, Meetville service analyst, is sure that sometimes Media influences volatile teenagers in a very negative way. Children are eager to copy what seems interesting and cool to them. Many parents try to give their kid freedom of action, others do everything possible to save a kid from different mistakes. Parents should understand why their children smoke, drink or take drugs and take this addiction seriously if they want to help.

Meetville, a leading mobile dating service, regularly conducts research among its users. Millions of people from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia answer hundreds of questions every month. You can find the results of the poll here. If you are interested in research on a particular topic, please contact us. Any reprint of the material should be followed by clickable links to the survey.