When It Comes to Teen Drinking, Is Just Saying 'No' Enough?

Throughout the year, Novato police conduct "shoulder tap" operations at stores around town.

In these,  a decoy who who is a minor, asks an adult to buy them alcohol or tries to get a merchant to sell to them.

Another one of these stings was held Saturday and two Novato residents were cited for buying alcohol for minors.

Police say one man purchased alcohol for a minor at the Shell gas station at 7473 Redwood Boulevard, while another bought alcohol for a minor at the 7-Eleven at 700 Redwood Blvd.

The operation was funded in part by the Novato Blue Ribbon Coalition for Youth, a local group that works to educate teens about the danger of alcohol and tries to steer students to healthy and fun alternatives. 

According to the group, 42 percent of Novato 11th graders report binge drinking in the past month and say they often receive alcohol from adults.

Local teens also say that obtaining alcohol or marijuana in Novato is easier than obtaining cigarettes and that nearly half have used marijuana over the past month, twice the state average, according to the coalition.

But not everyone agrees that just saying ‘no’ to alcohol is the way to reduce binge drinking among teens.

Stanton Peele, a psychologist and author of "Addiction-Proof Your Child," has long argued that programs whose aim is to stop teens from drinking can actually contribute to teens binge drinking.

Instead, Peele says allowing children to drink in moderation during family events demystifies the drinking experience and makes them less likely to abuse it when with friends.

"Preparing your child to drink at home lessens the likelihood that they are going to binge drink," he told CNN. "Not sharing alcohol with your child is a risk factor for binge drinking." 

CORRECTION: A previous version of the article had incorrect information about police decoys. All police decoys used in "shoulder tap" operations in Novato are underage. Patch regrets the error.

SOUND OFF: What do you think is the way to reduce the number of Novato teens who binge drink? More activities? Focusing on parents who abuse alcohol? Allowing teens to drink in small amounts at family functions?