<p>~I’m shocked that any parent might be shocked, or that it’s thread worthy.</p>
<p>The ease of students getting alcohol ‘illegally’ in the US reminds me of that other prohibitionist country, Iran. Soon after I checked in to my hotel in Tehran (two years ago), the manager offered to send a bottle of vodka up to my room.</p>
<p>I’d be shocked, because both my kids think alcohol tastes disgusting and won’t even sip it (legally in NY) at home. Younger son turns 21 this summer so it will all be moot soon. Right now he’s living in a country (Jordan) where there is not a lot of drinking (though it’s easy enough to find in Amman.)</p>
<p>My kids are like Mathmom’s kids - not interested, don’t like the taste. So I would be shocked - not because they would be breaking the law, but because they would be giving into social pressure to do something they don’t even enjoy. They have been allowed to taste various beers and wines, and also hard cider, and don’t care for any of them, In our state, it is legal for them to consume alcohol if their parents serve it to them.</p>
<p>In my family, some alcohol with dinner is just typical. European mom. I think I was allowed to start tasting alcohol when I was 12/13? Never cared for it much. Still don’t. </p>
<p>At 17, my parents didn’t bad an eyelash. However, at 22, I’ve only been drunk once in my life. I inherited my dad’s dislike of hard alcohol but I inherited my mom’s taste for beer. </p>
<p>A few years ago, I was 19 in Costa Rica. There, I could legally drink alcohol. Crossing an imaginary line into America made me suddenly illegal again. It was kind of a surreal experience.</p>
<p>Not shocked at all, because I/we don’t make a big deal out of alcohol. If he got himself drunk the way we have seen at places like Steubenville I would be upset, not so much for getting drunk, but worse, doing it stupidly. Boys have a lot less to fear then girls (other then some other drunk kid getting all riled up and getting violent), but even so, I would be concerned. </p>
<p>My wife grew up until 8 in Europe, and there kids drinking wine (mixed with water or seltzer) was common, and in my family, once we got past a certain age, if we wanted to have wine (kids generally don’t like beer) it was fine, because it wasn’t abused. Our S has grown up without alcohol being stigmatized, but for most of his time growing up, he wasn’t interested. In the last year or two he will have a glass of wine with dinner with us when we drink, which isn’t all that often, and he also will have occasionally have blackberry brandy to settle a bad stomach or simply to enjoy it. I am sure someone will come in with the ills of kids drinking at home, how it will turn them into drinking machines, the life of the party and so forth, and I suspect that is someone using statistics to try and prove a point, without looking at causative factors. What I can tell you from experience is what matters more with binge drinking tends to be the parents, that parents who tell their kids alcohol is the demon’s brew or something like that while imbibing themselves are causing major disconnect, or parents who allow their kids to drink but also don’t model moderation, are both sending messages.</p>
<p>I find it ridiculous that for example, if I as his parent, go to a restaurant with him and he wanted wine or beer, that I can’t order it for him, it is a kind of carrie nationism taken too far (technically under the federal law that drove this, that is supposed to be legal, but many bars/restaurants, even here in NYC, won’t allow it). Among other things, kids tend to model the behavior of their parents, and hopefully we modeled something decent when it comes to alcohol. There is such a thing as moderate drinking, of drinking to enjoy it, rather than getting drunk. I trust my son enough to handle himself, because he seems to have common sense and isn’t easily swayed by peer pressure, and doesn’t seem tempted. </p>
<p>To be honest, I see the other side, where it is legal to drink, NYC these days is full of all these young people in their 20’s, many of whom come from elsewhere, from the burbs and towns all over, and all I have to say is with age doesn’t come wisdom, seems like their idea of fun revolves around getting drunk as a skunk and puking on the sidewalk, and I would be willing to bet every one of them prob grew up in houses where alcohol and kids was probably a no no.</p>