If you’re planning on having a few cocktails at holiday gatherings, experts say you should keep in mind that children may be watching.

Here’s some advice for parents:

Make sure your children see you socializing with and without alcohol.

“It’s easy for kids to get the wrong message about alcohol and drinking,” said D’Arcy Ly-ness, medical editor for Nemours’ KidsHealth.org. If you always associate having a good time with drinking, your children will too.

Appoint a designated driver. An important part of drinking responsibly in front of your children is modeling behavior that you want your children to follow, so addressing drinking and driving is crucial, said Tom Hedrick, founding member of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America in New York.

“One adult in the family should clearly be the designated driver,” he said.

It’s even a good idea for parents to discuss in front of the children who is going to drive the family home after a party.

Don’t ignore drunken behavior. If your child is old enough to notice that a friend or family member is acting strangely, use it as an opportunity to talk about what happens when someone drinks too much, said Carleton Kendrick, author of “Take Out Your Nose Ring, Honey, We’re Going to Grandma’s.”

“Explain how sometimes alcohol allows people and encourages people to say and do things they might have not said or done if they hadn’t drunk it,” Kendrick said.

Decide before your child asks whether you will allow him or her to have a sip of alcohol.

Experts disagree on whether it’s OK to let children have a small sip of alcohol from an adult’s glass.

Some suggest that allowing sips underscores that alcohol — when used responsibly — is often part of festive gatherings.Don’t add a taboo nature to it, Kendrick said. “If you view alcohol as something that will primarily get you in trouble, I think you are explaining the consumption of it in a harmful manner and creating a taboo.”

Others argue that it makes more sense to tell children no. Forbidding sips makes it easier to enforce the idea that children are not allowed to drink, Hedrick said.

“It’s much easier to deal with arguments that are black and white,” Hedrick said.

Be prepared for children and teenagers to ask why it’s OK for you to drink but not them.

Start by reminding them that underage drinking is against the law.

It’s also a good idea to explain that drinking is unhealthy for young people because their brains are still developing, Hedrick added.

“The main message is, if people drink, they should drink responsibly,” said Vivian B. Faden, deputy director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md. “It’s not a one-time conversation. While the holidays present a good opportunity, there needs to be ongoing conversation about drinking.”

— Melissa Dutton, The Associated Press

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