Having Boys As Friends Can Boost Girls' Drinking

I read a rather disturbing article here on MSN today. Researchers have found a link between having friends of the opposite sex and increased underage drinking, especially for girls.

I wonder why this is? Is it because girls are more likely to be socialized to be compliant and agreeable, so they go along with their friends' (usually guys) suggestion to drink, even if they don't want to? Is it because girls want so desperately to be accepted by the opposite sex that they'll do whatever it takes to be considered "cool"? (Obviously boys have that issue, too, but it seems to manifest itself differently).

I found this study very intriguing, and it really caused me to think exactly how the interactions between adolescent boys and girls are so fraught with tension and the desire for acceptance. So what can be done to prevent these friendships from facilitating negative consequences? Well, we need to, first and foremost, raise our girls to say "no." This applies to drinking, having sex, and anything else that is potentially harmful to our daughters. We also need to raise our sons to respect women, so if girls say, "no," our sons know they mean it, and it's not something "fun" to do to try to convince them otherwise. And what about good old-fashioned parental supervision? I think today, parents are too often removed from their children's social lives, and that is a definite factor in underage drinking and teen sex/pregnancy.