Well, that’s a little exaggerated. If my kid goes over someone else’s house and has an “unlimited amount” of soft drinks, potato chips or donuts, no harm is going to come to them other than a stomach ache. Come on now.
Having lived in the UK for years, I disagree. The drinking age for beer and wine was 16 and the number for teenagers staggering around and vomiting in public one weekend evenings in our town was significant and troubling.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167463/Uks-teenage-girls-biggest-binge-drinkers-Europe.html
For some reason, Americans always seem to think that the Europeans haven’t got issues with problem drinking when the facts simply don’t support that belief. The legal driving age being 18 and the fact that it’s much harder and more expensive to get a drivers license there does keep down the number of teen DWI’s but I doubt that most parents in the US would support changing our requirements to be like theirs.
I believe that if you want your kids to avoid getting in trouble with the law, you need to teach them that they should follow the law whether you personally agree with it or not. If your state, like mine, allows you to serve your own kids an alcoholic beverage at home and you want to, then that’s perfectly fine. My kids are over legal age now but if another parent had presumed to serve them alcohol in their home when they were underage without getting my permission, they would have felt my wrath and I’d have been likely to file a complaint with the authorities. Too many parents get away with that stuff and kids in my community often hospitalized and die in car accidents as a result of “cool parents” hosting underage drinking parties.
I think there is a difference between the UK and the mainland EU in that respect. Culture has a role to play too.
This article from 2010 suggests that the problem isn’t confined to the UK.
http://www.thenextgreatgeneration.com/2010/07/how-we-get-hammered-the-european-vs-u-s-drinking-age/
In any case, the argument from Americans who think the legal drinking age in the US is “silly” is always that if the age were lowered, we would have less of a problem with young people binge drinking. The UK example proves that this line of thinking is false. The culture of the UK and the US have much more in common than the culture of the US and perhaps, Italy.
How could you be sure your kids weren’t allergic to alcohol or any of its ingredients? Allergies to common ingredients like grains might show up, but aren’t there other ingredients in alcohol that can cause reactions in sensitive people?
I didn’t think about it. I had no reason to think that there was any allergy or sensitivity to alcohol, as no one in our family has that. I guess I didn’t think about it any more than I thought about introducing any new food into their diets.
We do have shellfish allergies that run in our family (me / my side of the family) but we ascertained that my kids didn’t have that years ago.
It would never occur to me to worry about my kids being allergic to alcohol in that scenario. And heck, if they were, wouldn’t that be a better way to find out than if they were off sneaking liquor?
Now, if your kids have a propensity for allergies, I can see it. But yeah, it’s basically no different than them trying new food.
It never occurred to me to have my kids taste different types of alcohol. That might have backfired as they both like the taste of most types of alcohol including whiskey, bourbon and beer - none of which I can stand.
After my kids graduated from HS they asked if they could have a drink at home usually when H and I were having a glass of wine. As long as there was no driving involved we were fine with it.
Oh, it was deliberate to have them do so straight. Who can like that stuff straight?? I can only like the taste of alcohol if it’s mixed in some kind of fruity or chocolatey drink, lol.
“Well, that’s a little exaggerated. If my kid goes over someone else’s house and has an “unlimited amount” of soft drinks, potato chips or donuts, no harm is going to come to them other than a stomach ache. Come on now.”
@Pizzagirl Yes, of course I posted this tongue in cheek 
However, being born and raised in Europe, I find it funny that posters seriously discuss the harm of offering a HS student a sip of wine, yet many types of food offered to kids in the US would terrify many European parents. I remember that it was nearly impossible to buy a can of Coke (or other soda) in Europe until the recent years. But I do seriously believe that some of the food I mentioned is harmful to children if offered freely at their homes (which still happens quite often)
“Oh, it was deliberate to have them do so straight. Who can like that stuff straight??”
I have one child who is a fan of bourbon and whiskey on the rocks, something neither my husband or I would drink, so it is possible. The things you learn on gap years…
^ I know a lot of parents who’d be angry if their kids were given soda and junk food at other kids’ homes. I wouldn’t do it without asking, personally.
ETA: I’m thinking mainly of younger kids. A lot of parents don’t want their kids having any of that for various reasons, maybe health in general but also so they aren’t wired on sugar and caffeine…
Scotch, pizza…I find Scotch tasty on it’s own…but only in the winter. Can’t drink Scotch in the summer
While reading one of the Outlander novels (WWII combat nurse goes through time and lands in Scotland in the 1740s), I kept seeing references to Scotch whiskey: how it runs through the veins on a cold wet night and warms up the belly, its deep color, its rich, warm taste, etc. It was a cold evening, and I thought I’d give it a try in a beautiful glass we have in our bar.
I nearly gagged. Tried a few more sips and nearly gagged again. Sigh. Not for me. Romantic notion dispelled by reality…
It probably tastes better if you are in Scotland 1740 on a very cold night…very cold.
Husband and friends are whiskey connoisseurs. Some scotches and bourbons are better than others, much much much better. However, it is still probably an acquired taste. After many years, I have acquired it, and frequently have a thimbleful late evening. These days I prefer that to ice cream or chocolate, although whiskey and chocolate (really excellent, very dark chocolate) are a wonderfully decadent combination.
Whiskey and honey: my mama’s home remedy for sore throats and it works really well, but don’t waste the good stuff mixing with honey
I always loved the scene in “Mr. Roberts” where they are trying to make “Scotch” using the grain alcohol Doc has (I think it was to bribe the port director),and they are trying to figure out what makes it taste like it does, and the last ingredient was Iodine lol.
Drinking age in our state is 21. Would never serve to anyone under the age in our house, I take that liability seriously, plus, it’s against the law. There is alcohol in my house but my kids’ friends know they are forbidden. DH is a police officer. I make a point to be there when friends are over, so it is not an issue.
@wizardly66 You would be surprised how many laws you break. We try to just use common sense. In our state, some laws we ignore:
- You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least one dollar bill on your person.
- You must contact the police before entering the city in an automobile.
- It is illegal to give a dog whiskey. (who hasn't done that?)
I agree that it’s important to obey the law, but it’s hard to engender respect for a law that seems really arbitrary. I also think it’s difficult to tell kids that drinking before 21 is this terrible decision, while also living in a culture that glorifies drinking. I have also read that the lower drinking ages in Europe don’t actually lead to better results, and that may be true. I do think, though, that the current drinking age laws in the US have created more problems at colleges than they solve. I’d like to see a graduated approach; perhaps a licensing program with education (like we do with driving).