Parenting & Family Quote by Xavier Becerra

Becerra’s sentence reads like public health policy trying to sound like family advice, and that hybrid is the point. “Critical” isn’t mere emphasis; it’s bureaucratic urgency smuggled into the living room. The line positions parents and “other trusted adults” as the front line of prevention, quietly widening responsibility beyond moms and dads to coaches, teachers, older siblings, faith leaders - anyone who can be deputized into a safety net. That choice signals a political reality: government can’t supervise teenage choices, but it can recruit intermediaries who already have access and legitimacy.

The phrase “initiate conversations” matters because it treats silence as the default problem. Underage drinking is framed less as a moral failing than as a predictable decision point that can be rehearsed for, like fire drills or sex ed. Becerra is also sidestepping the culture-war trap of abstinence-only rhetoric. He doesn’t demand purity; he argues for preparedness. “Well in advance” is the quiet rebuke to parental denial and the common myth that a kid is “not there yet.” It implies that by the time alcohol appears, the social pressure and the script are already written.

The most telling subtext is in “the first time they are faced with a decision.” That phrasing acknowledges how rarely teen drinking feels like a calm, deliberative choice. It’s usually a crowded moment: a party, a dare, a ride home, a phone with low battery. Becerra’s intent is to move the decision earlier, into a safer space, before the stakes and the noise take over.