With the pressure of underaged drinking mounting itslef upon teenagers of all ages, new research suggests that this trend has been normalized to such an extent that parents have come to accept it.

According to a study this December by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 70 percent of teenagers who host parties with alcohol at them had a parent who was definitely aware of the presence of alcohol at the party. Furthermore, 64 percent of those parents in this survey were present at least part of time at the party.

Now, whether or not these statistics come off as shocking or not does not matter. The fact of the matter is that as long as the issue of underage drinking is not universally looked down upon by both teenagers and parents, it will not be solved.

Interestingly enough when the parents of these teenagers were asked as to why they allowed children to drink, many responded saying they’d rather it happen under their supervision than elsewhere while others said such regulation may prompt rebellion in their teenagers.

However, despite what little merit there is in these arguments, parties like these, especially where the majority of the participants are underaged are not the appropriate place for being introduced to alcohol. This is due the fact dangers of binge drinking and drunk driving. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, over 90 percent of alcohol consumed by those between the ages of 12 to 20 is done by binging. Additionally, of the 5,000 deaths caused by underaged drinking, 1,900 alone are due motor vehicle crashes.

Minnesota is currently one of 26 states not to have in place social host liability laws that would allow adults to be held responsible for any underage drinking that occurs on their property. So in order to address a core componenet of underaged drinking, parents and teenagers alike should push for the passage of such laws and moreover parents and teenagers should work together to unify the effort against the underaged drinking.