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Dear lord, I guess I'm old fashioned. Or new fashioned? My children are not served alcohol at 'special meals'. They are 17 and 14. I'm sure they've tasted alcohol, but I will not serve it to them or allow them to drink it in my presence until they are 21. They get sparkling cider.
I don't need an alcoholic drink to enjoy any meal, and neither do they. I'm not a prude about it, I'm just a single mom who doesn't open a bottle a wine unless there is company. which is rare. I drink when I'm out with adults only, mostly because I'm driving. Now that my daughter can drive I'll have one drink with dinner when out with other families. My kids have never seen me drunk, because I haven't been more than tipsy in 25 years. This isn't hard for me, or something I'm on a soapbox about, I just don't feel the need. We talk about alcohol when it comes up, and they know that some of it tastes good, some of it doesn't, and being a little intoxicated feels good, and it doesn't take much to get from there to being too drunk to feel good in the morning. They know all that. Luckily, a drunk/hungover person throwing up in a toilet is a frequent motif in movies/tv, so I suspect that is the image they get.
This nonsense about making it more attractive because it is taboo is ridiculous. They can't drive until they are 15...does that mean I let them tool around in the car on special occasions when they are 12? encourage them to get felt up by their 13 year old cousins on Christmas eve while everyone gathers around because I don't want to make sex a taboo??
I've observed first hand the habits of many alcoholic families, including my own. Making a ritual out of tasting booze, and asking children to fetch more booze at social events are two things that glamorize drinking. So I just don't do it. IMHO serving alcohol at every meal is another stupid habit. No one needs it.
I'm not opposed to marijuana use, either, but I won't introduce it to my kids until it is legal (Oldest has seen first hand how lazy/stupid it makes her friends, and she declined to try it)
Yes, but I mean comparing cultures like UK and France... Don't see how they can be lumped together as Europe, because French, for example, cultural attitudes towards intoxication is very different, regardless of drinking rates. European attitudes vary vastly within.
I wouldn't have a problem with someone around 12 and up having a glass of champagne at a wedding or something like that.
Pot.. No.
I certainly wouldn't want alcohol to be a regular thing with someone under 21, and certainly not to the point they were intoxicated.
I live in a state where it is fine for a child to have alcohol when under 21 at their own house.. And technically so long as an adult gives it to them.. So, one of your kids' friends comes over, you give them a beer.. it's legal.. However, the state pulls out the 'contributing to delinquency' charges to squash that when a stink is raised.
I wouldn't have a problem with someone around 12 and up having a glass of champagne at a wedding or something like that.
Pot.. No.
I certainly wouldn't want alcohol to be a regular thing with someone under 21, and certainly not to the point they were intoxicated.
I live in a state where it is fine for a child to have alcohol when under 21 at their own house.. And technically so long as an adult gives it to them.. So, one of your kids' friends comes over, you give them a beer.. it's legal.. However, the state pulls out the 'contributing to delinquency' charges to squash that when a stink is raised.
Wellllll....you might check out the exact legalities if you are inclined to be serving minors in your home. It usually must be the parent who provides the alcohol - or at least the parent must be present and consent. It's not anything I'd want to mess around with.
I read the link. I am just suggesting the term europe is very broad in terms of attitudes (note drinking vs intoxication in the charts). That's all.
Since you read the link, which is lengthly and you could not possibly have read in entirety in the 20 minutes from the time I posted it until you replied criticizing it, you know that it is broken down by country. It doesn't refer to "Europe" as one entity.
Since you read the link, which is lengthly and you could not possibly have read in entirety in the 20 minutes from the time I posted it until you replied criticizing it, you know that it is broken down by country. It doesn't refer to "Europe" as one entity.
Oh for heaven's sake, I don't care enough to be nitpicking an article or you. I was simply referring to previous posts like yours, #42, that use the blanket term "Europe" when talking about drinking. That is all. And really, 20 minutes for under 10 pages with graphs and citations? Now you are taking the ****, to use a European expression that nobody would understand in most of Europe.
In Quebec there is less binge drinking but alcoholism rates are higher. You don't see much binge drinking, but it is easy to drink all day long as no one bats an eye at a 10am wine.
You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning.
Before they go off to college. Better to teach them just how much a couple of shots of whiskey or a few bottles of beer really are before finding out a party. I much rather them know what they're in for before they get in a situation where people just want to drink as much as possible. My first experience with alcohol was in college but fortunately not at a party. Just a few people talking. I got to ease into alcohol instead of having someone make me take a shot every ten minutes. Like people have said, it's legal (Where I am at least) for me to give them at our house. I'm not too worried about a little bit of alcohol at 18 as far as developmental issues are concerned.
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