<p>Where we live, outside of the US I must stress, there’s no hard and fast drinking age. Some say it’s 14, I think the govt. says it’s 16, or maybe 18, I don’t know. Most teen parties have alcohol with parents’ knowledge/consent. As a matter of fact, it’s generally accepted it’s ok for kids to drink as long as it’s in front of adults. Moderation isn’t even mentioned. I know some parents who let their kids drink until they throw up. Some parents claim that the experience is a good deterrent to future bingeing.
I’m not worried about S3 and alcholol at school. Now sex, that may be another matter altogether. We introduced him to alcohol at home, but not sex LOL.</p>
<p>Hmm, texaspg. Am I your object lesson today? 
I tend to think, in my case, that openness about my youthful and occasional middle-aged indiscretions have made such things less mysterious and less romantic to my D. She also really seemed to take seriously the lessons she learned in her mandatory health classes. She has gotten to a point where she is not so judgmental about drinking as much as she is about people whose principal goal is to consume alcohol. She met a promising young man a few days ago and decided not to pursue things because he suggested she get together with him and his frat friends and get “hammered.” She thought that was a rather unimaginative plan for socializing!</p>
<p>I am hoping she will serve as a “control” for me: Maybe I’ll be able to compare the data from her relatively sober college career (all things being equal, I’d be just as happy if they were sober!) to my less dry years. Is it in fact possible to have fun in college without so much beer as my friends and I consumed? I hope so!</p>
<p>I’m not going preach moderation or say “just say no.” To do so I would be huge hypocrite. I really view the 4 years of college as a time to experiment and quite frankly do some stupid stuff in a safe environment (small residential college). I’d like to think that over the last 18 years that we’ve given D the tools she needs to make smart choices. </p>
<p>I think back to the semester where my week was defined by which bars had cheap beer that I consumed on too many nights. I went home at Christmas and decided that I needed to change my behavior.</p>
<p>The other thing is, how am I going to know what she is doing at any given moment? Should I be asking for time diaries or for a head mounted, always on skype session or a maybe a tracking anklet?</p>
<p>Quick question–doesn’t dry school just mean pushing alcohol off campus thus increasing the risk?</p>
<p>Jmnva06 - now I’m going to be pondering how many college parents already track their students on occasion via GPS on their family cell phone plans. Or how many peruse shared bank account or credit card statements to see what their offspring have been doing, if they’re hanging out in bars, etc.</p>
<p>Nope. There’s no such thing as a dry campus. Parents are fooling themselves when they think there’s no alcohol on campus.</p>
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<p>You must live in one of the few states that kids can drink at home. I think that’s a better way to go than starting drinking at 21.</p>
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<p>Exactly. Once the kids are at college, they do what they please that way they’ve learned the previous 18 years.</p>
<p>absweetmarie - I can sure use some lessons in moderation. :p</p>
<p>I think to heck with moderation ;-). But my kids beg to differ.</p>
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<p>From that same post: </p>
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<p>I learned how to moderate from watching my parents. </p>
<p>Neither of them understand the word moderation. Watching them make stupid choices has always been my anti drug lol.</p>
<p>Kids can always drink in their own homes if their parents let them, no state moderation involved. The state wouldn’t know unless someone told them.</p>
<p>Woody - what are the rules about drinking at restaurants? Can a parent allow a kid to drink in Texas? I allowed my kid to taste wine in front of the waitress and was a bit concerned about the laws.</p>
<p>In my state you can allow your own child to have tastes in your own home, but I imagine that in a place of business, that would be considered “out of your jurisdiction”, and the local law would apply.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t believe in a lot of moderation. My daughter was addicted to Runescape when she was little but luckily she kept getting blocked for stealing other players gold so the addiction went away. Consequences help I guess. Many people chastised me for letting her game for hours at a time but it was something she loved.</p>
<p>She still has a tendency to obsess over things, her most recent obsession involves eating whoopie pies daily. She works in an Amish restaurant and they sell them there. One is enough for two people but she binges and it is gone in about ten minutes. She stores them in her bedroom so we can’t eat them! </p>
<p>Hopefully she will tire of this latest obsession but, I have no intentions on moderating her passions whether they be hacking online game accounts or eating Amish whoopie pies! ;)</p>
<p>Here’s the law. Change ‘ks’ in the link to find your own state. You can check the state where your kid’s college is as well.</p>
<p>[APIS</a> - State Profiles of Underage Drinking Laws](<a href=“http://www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/apis_state_profile.html?state=ks]APIS”>http://www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/apis_state_profile.html?state=ks)</p>
<p>As long as her obsession doesn’t extend to needing chocolate milk with the whoopie pies. Things could get serious.</p>
<p>Life is so simple outside of the US. Like I said, nobody here really even knows what the drinking age is. A lot of bartenders here either don’t know what a ‘virgin’ drink is, or don’t care. At restaurants the kids can drink wine with no problem. Not sure about hard liquor though.</p>
<p>My kid is quite self-moderating when it comes to video games. She liked Runescape (hi mspearl!) and Sims when younger; has an Xbox but does not play games on it much. It’s popular with visiting boys, some of whom I’d sometimes like to demerit for monopolizing the TV with that darned thing.</p>
<p>I believe Georgia’s laws around alcohol do not permit parental discretion - although from what I’ve heard, parents serving minors in their homes is common enough to cause concern in this county. As a younger teen, D once asked if it was actually legal for her to have a sip from the chalice at communion time at church. Interesting question. Could anyone truly regard a sip of communion wine as a step onto the slippery slope to alcohol dependency? I’d recommend a little moderation in such ideology.</p>
<p>Of course moderation when it comes to the communion wine. The idea is to sip, not to guzzle. Maybe demerits would be warranted if one swallows too much.</p>
<p>Thanks Lake42ks.</p>
<p>Looks like presence of a parent/guardian is sufficient in Texas.</p>
<p>In Texas, a minor may possess an alcoholic beverage if the minor is in the visible presence of his adult parent, guardian, or spouse. Tex. Alco. Bev. Code Ann. § 106.05.</p>
<p>Have there been cases of immoderation with communion wine?</p>