<p>Texas:<br>
An alcoholic beverage may be provided to a minor by that minor’s adult parent, legal guardian, or spouse if they are visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage. </p>
<p>Love that they remembered to include the spouse of the minor!</p>
<p>I will say that for all of the extracurricular activities, they make them sign a contract that they won’t drink anywhere, anytime. So while they’re in school, they’re busted (by the school) even if the kids drink in the presence of their parents.</p>
<p>Terrifying to think about diabetic kids drinking.</p>
<p>We allowed wine or beer on holidays and vacations during late high school and college. I wish my kids “hated the taste of alcohol”, but they didn’t. I had one kid who was very responsible about alcohol and one who wasn’t. We did our best, but in the community we lived in that horse left the barn in late middle school and left the parents behind in the dust.</p>
<p>If they want wine with dinner or a drink while watching TV on Saturday night at our house, I don’t care. When we go to Mexico, they can drink there legally so that’s fine with me too. I guess they have never seen us get drunk, have seen (and cleaned up) their friends when the friends get drunk, and have (so far) decided to follow the moderation path on their own. The only “rule” that we follow with NO exceptions, is not a drop if you are going to drive. And no driving with anyone who has had anything to drink.</p>
<p>We have traveled with the kids to Italy, Spain and Germany and have let them taste the wine we are drinking. (The waiters in Spain and Germany always asked Son what he wanted.) The youngest still hates the taste, and the older two didn’t like the wine in Italy or Spain…but they both liked the taste of the whites in Germany (the 16 year old liked them a bit too much…she’s the one I’m going to have to worry about.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what my parents told my brother about drinking (they didn’t mention anything to me when I went off to college, except my dad gave me a cuff on the shoulder and told me to not do anything stupid… and to be careful about boys…), but since our family has a propensity towards alcoholism and depression, I gave my younger brother some guidelines.</p>
<p>Me: Okay, so if you decide to start drinking…
Him: But I won’t.
Me: Okay. But if you <em>do</em>…
Him: I won’t.
Me: That’s good. Humor me for a second, so you can at least know what other people are doing wrong when <em>they</em> drink.</p>
<p>I told him the basics, first–to not drink on an empty stomach, to not drink to excess. I told him that if I ever caught him driving or operating machinery when he’d been drinking, that I would knock him into next week. I told him to drink a lot of water before he went to bed, and to watch out for his friends and not serve them alcohol and give them food and water if they weren’t looking well. Then, I told him the things that anyone with our family history should know–I told him never EVER to drink when he was alone, or angry, or upset. I didn’t “teach” him how to drink, and I never served him anything, but I didn’t think he should go off to college utterly unadvised.</p>
<p>Sure enough, two months later, he was throwing wine and cheese parties. Not quite the wild keggers that most college students throw, but five years later, he’s glad I’d made him listen, otherwise he could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble. He’s now tutoring my dad on the finer points of scotch and handcrafted beers.</p>
<p>Absolutely. I cannot imagine having a high school age child, let alone a college age one, on medication or with a medical condition and not knowing/educating my child about the effects of alcohol or other drugs they may encounter. If parents do not set the example of seeking out and finding out about interactions <em>before</em> injesting something else, then the kids follow along with the “hope for the best” example. </p>
<p>I had a friend die due to an interaction of the medication she was taking and alcohol. Her doctor increased her dose but she had never told her doctor that she was also drinking frequently, instead telling him what she thought he wanted to hear “I hardly ever drink and only in moderation.” I think of her and I just ache with with the “what ifs.”</p>
<p>As a general rule, it’s not a good idea to mix alcohol with prescription meds. </p>
<p>Here’s the package insert for Concerta. Although it does not list alcohol having any interactions with the drug, it also lists “It is possible that not every Concerta drug interaction was discussed in this article. Therefore, you should talk with your healthcare provider about the specific drug interactions that may apply to you.”</p>
<p>Our teens refuse to drink. I have offered at home but our son doesn’t understand why people willingly drink poisonous substances and I’m not sure why our daughter won’t drink. I drink maybe an ounce or two a year and it generally disagrees with me. So I have no problem if they drink knowing that they never will (my assumption based on past behavior).</p>
<p>My D actually did have something slipped into her drink at a bar in her college town. Luckily she was with a group that took care of her. They took her home on the bus, where she proceeded to try to make out with one them, and smoked a cigarette (which she hates). She awoke the next morning passed out on a friends couch. She does not remember anything she did, she was told by her friends who took care of her. One of her friends has been date raped while drunk and drugged. </p>
<p>I have had many frank discussions with my daughters, and after this incident, I did do the drinking experiment with my younger D , at home, so she could figure out what her limits are. We have also talked about keeping an eye on your drink at all times, and not drinking it if it has been left for any amount of time unattended. </p>
<p>Important stuff to think about and talk about before your kids go off to college.</p>
<p>This link seems to have run its course but I will add my last two cents…my daughter hates the taste of alcohol too, unless it’s disguised in some sugary concoction. But then I think back to my own days as an adolescent & I remember quite clearly not liking the taste of alcohol. Remember, drinking is a social sport. Your son or daughter may be at a Frat party surrounded by people drinking, having a great time…once again, peer pressure (remember that from Middle School?) rears it’s head. Suddenly, after that first beer or whatever, it doesnt’ taste so bad. Thinking that they don’t like the taste of booze is no guarantee they wont drink! EDUCATE! Happy Thanksgiving to you all.</p>
<p>I don’t keep alcohol around my house anymore. Too many young men running through the house. When I do get a bottle of wine or any such spirits, I keep it in my bedroom. They may get their alcohol, but it won’t be from me. I don’t want it around when there is so much trouble with it around here.This way they do not get mixed messages from me. When they have their own place, and are of age, they can get their own. Both of my over 21 boys are finding that their budgets are blown with alcohol in it. </p>
<p>We’ll have a nice wine for Thanksgiving dinner and my 21 year old will have a glass with us. As he would be offered spirits at any occasion when it is being served. But we just won’t have it around to be abused. </p>
<p>My close friend was of the strong belief that teaching her kids to drink properly would help them avoid alcohol abuse. I have no problems with that but I also think drinking properly means obeying the laws as well. Both of her kids had a number of problems with abuse issues even though she served it at home and taught them how to enjoy drinks. Not to say they did not learn; they just also abused drinks as mine did. However, she also had some problems where her wines and spirits disappeared on occasions. She finally had to lock up her liquor too, sadly. She had numerous situations when her kids were clearly drinking outside, but insisted it was just a bit with a meal as she had shown them. It’s just that breaking the law a little bit is like being a little bit pregnant. Some kids get it and will drink only with you. Others will take it as a “wink, wink, it’s ok” sort of thing. My kids knew how we felt about the whole business. </p>
<p>When they are older, their heads are just screwed on a little tighter, I think. There is still the possibility of abuse. There always is, but a 21+ year old is just more mature than an 18 year old. If alcohol is off limits for younger kids, they will have to be more careful when sneaking a drink. I know my older one was 21 before he started abusing alcohol, and the second one abused it on a limited basis, because we were very much on top of each of our kids about substance abuse. Did not prevent problems but did limit things somewhat.</p>
<p>We took our daughters to Europe a few years ago where it was legal and accepted to have wine with dinner. We allowed it there. When we returned, it seemed hypocritical to say it was OK in Europe but not at home. We have since allowed them to have wine or a beer with dinner with us when we have wine with dinner (not often as we aren’t big drinkers). </p>
<p>I have since decided that we were teaching and modeling responsible drinking at home. When D1 got to college, drinking was not a novelty. D2 has no interest in wine or beer (so far).</p>
<p>I will not. The local prosecutor put some parents in jail for doing that. Rich neighborhood too. Well some kid or kids did die in an accident and that did prompt the strong reaction to put the parents in jail. They lost the trial as well. Corp CEO are even being prosecuted. Parents defense was they were teaching thier kids responsible drinking.
Nope no booze supplied to my underage kid.</p>
<p>Until I studied abroad in Italy (when I was 20) and my parents and younger brothers came to visit no-one under 21 could drink in our house. Both my brothers had wine when they were visiting me and when we returned things changed. Since then two of us are over 21 and the youngest is 17. Everyone is offered wine with dinner (at special occasions etc.) but my youngest brother doesn’t seem to like it very much.</p>
<p>I agree with ShesOnHerWay though, traveling to Europe where waiters where wine was consumed at most meals and then coming back to the States and saying that it was no longer ok here seems a little silly.</p>
<p>Depends on the state, but in many cases it’s perfectly legal to serve ones children alcohol in your own home.</p>
<p>In those cases, I don’t see a problem with a bit of wine with dinner. For those with close European ancestry or who frequently travel to or have lived in Europe this is all perfectly normal and quite common. </p>
<p>I would certainly oppose giving kids hard liquor, but an occasional glass of wine served with dinner is OK in my book so long as it’s done in a responsible manner. It’s the taboo attitude towards alcohol that drives many kids to abuse it. If it’s not a taboo subject in the home then the ‘forbidden fruit’ aspect of it tends to go away…</p>
<p>Learning to make responsible decisions concerning the consumption of alcohol is just one piece of a bigger bundle of social behavior for teens and college students. How to handle oneself safely in party and clubbing situations, how to avoid getting slipped something in a drink, to avoid unwanted sexual advances and assaults, in general how to avoid being a victim in a broad variety of situations where alcohol is present is part of the education students need to have as part of “safe alcohol training”.</p>
<p>We started working on these issues with our daughter when she was 15. It included a graduated approach to exposure to alcohol consumption under very controlled circumstances. By the time she was 18 and entering college, she was a competent and responsible young adult who exercised mature decision making in deciding whether to consume alcohol and under what circumstance and in what amounts. At that point, we knew she was going to be making these kinds of decisions outside of our presence and accordingly, when in our presence, we began leaving those decisions to her. Now, at the age of 19, it is a non-issue with us. She makes her own decisions whether to drink or not when at our house or out to dinner with us. </p>
<p>Our approach worked well for us and for her. Throughout high school inappropriate behavior involving alcohol was never a problem. More times than I can remember, she left high school parties where alcohol was present because she knew it was a bad scene and the alcohol held no allure. In college, she leaves parties where binge drinking is occurring and tends not to socialize with students who engage in those behaviors. She doesn’t drink to get intoxicated and knows her limits. Our approach was not necessarily the right one for other parents; it really depends on the student and the type of open and trusting relationship the parents and student have.</p>