Really an easy article to write with lots of head-nodding from the typical reader. However, I have two kids in HS and the drinking is absolutely rampant. Keeping children involved in organized activities from an early age lessens the odds of them joining the party crowd once HS rolls around. Second, you forgot the ultimate helicopter parent/child combo, the McQuearys of Penn St. fame. This 'kid' did not make a decision in life without first checking with Dad. The helicopter parent is far more insidious within some of our schools and corporations as these children move into adulthood. It is not organized activities that are the problem but the controlling parents. These parents do not disappear once the child is removed from organized activities.

Kids will end up emulating their parents to a great degree. If your household is full of rich language, if there are discussions going on in the house around topics like history, literature, economics, sociology, psychology etc., it becomes the only normal for your kids. Don't forget to always say, "According too"...before you open your mouth.., If you keep the television off and books open you will raise smart, engaged, thinking kids. If on the other hand, you never talk with each other, never crack open a book in front of your kids, never get out into nature with them, never turn off sports or "reality television", alas, your kids will grow up to be - as Cat Stevens implied many years ago - just like you.