For Labor Day - Is underage drinking OK?

Is underage drinking ever OK?

Quote

So the Tardios did what many parents across the country do: They made up their own rules, inside their own home, when it came to alcohol consumption and their underage children. As a mother of a 10-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son, I've often wondered if it's OK to give my children a sip of wine at dinner. Would I be sending an irresponsible message, or demystifying alcohol and thereby weakening its allure later on?

What the holy fucking hell is this world coming to? I know of people who were allowed a beer or two at an early age when they had pizza or what-not but now they are publicly saying they do this? Parents are going insane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walk the path of life to my own rhythm, my own beat-if you don't like it, step off and find your own damn song!

Does anyone else love that their names are the Tardios?

The reporter didn't really do her homework. It's a common myth that 21 is the absolute cut-off for drinking. In fact, as this ProCon page points out, 40 states allow it in some way shape or form. Most with parental consent, some even without on private property.

http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002591

My dad would "split" a beer with me when I was 15 or 16 -- me getting about 2 inches of it in a styrofoam cup -- and at holidays we were offered wine but generally preferred coke. I do favor the non-uptight approach but I don't know that it makes much of a difference -- I'm sure alcoholism is just as rampant in places where it's "demystified" as it is when kids bust out of Teetotalerville.

_______________________________________________
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

Quote
brattymcpants
Does anyone else love that their names are the Tardios?

I was wondering if that was their actual name or one of Bratfree's terms of endearment until I clicked on the link. That's pretty awesome.

------------------------------------------------------------
"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

Quote
brattymcpants
Does anyone else love that their names are the Tardios?

FIRST THING I noticed.larious



Teens having some beer or wine, sure, Ten and twelve? I don't see the point in even bringing it up for discussion at that age and I wouldn't suggest it to the teens either. They'll find out on their own soon enough if they are predisposed to alcoholism and I see no need to jump start the process at an early age.

------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
If YOU are the "exception" to what I am saying, then why does my commentary bother you so much?
I don't hate your kids, I HATE YOU!

Quote
brattymcpants
Does anyone else love that their names are the Tardios?

That was the first thing I noticed, and I did a double take on it, to be sure that I wasn't seeing things! larious


My father taught me how to drink responsibly starting as a 4 year old. It's part of my European heritage. Wine is enjoyed with a meal, with a gathering of friends, not for getting soused up alone in a dark room. In high school, I was allowed to serve myself, but if I overdid it, he cut me off. I'm not saying that i've never been drunk in my life, but I understand alcohol and its use.

I think Americans are too prudish when it comes to pleasure, and that includes alcohol. Wine, sex, food, the pleasures of life always seem to be taboo, restricted in some way. Good quality wine, like good quality food, is to be relished and enjoyed with the company of family and/or friends. I don't think I need to elaborate on the pleasures of good sex

/rant off now

I agree with Peace. Here we restrict hard alcohol to 18+ but you can buy wine and beer from 16. I think most people have been introduced to alcohol before then by their parents.

I find the 21 restriction in the US really strange. At 18 you can vote but you're not really an adult? That's an actual case of age discrimination, unlike the things breeders whine about.

It might be a cultural thing. Around here it is common to give a taste of wine to children during holiday or special day (like Christmas, or family dinners).
Usually they also teach you how to match wine and food, as well (I remember crearly a discussion with my father telling me which white wine was good with wich fishes, and how tuna should go with red wine instead...)
I don't remember the first time it happened to me, honestly.

_______________________

“I was talking about children that have not been properly house-trained. Left to their own impulses and indulged by doting or careless parents almost all children are yahoos. Loud, selfish, cruel, unaffectionate, jealous, perpetually striving for attention, empty-headed, for ever prating or if words fail them simply bawling, their voices grown huge from daily practice: the very worst company in the world. But what I dislike even more than the natural child is the affected child, the hulking oaf of seven or eight that skips heavily about with her hands dangling in front of her -- a little squirrel or bunny-rabbit -- and prattling away in a baby's voice.”


― Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove


lib'-er-ty: the freedom given to you to make the wrong decision, based on the reasoned belief that you will normally make the right one.

I live in a county in Kentucky, USA where it's illegal to purchase carry out alcoholic beverages of any kind because we are a "dry' county. However, in the neighboring city in the same county it is called a "moist" city, meaning you can buy alcohol and drink it on the premises, but a meal purchase is REQUIRED for each person ordering an alcoholic beverage and the limit per person is three. Creating moon shine and stills are legal, but ONLY for personal consumption and not for resale. It's considered boot legging to buy alcohol for another person from another area and bring it back for a fee, but you can GIVE it to them though, but the amounts are limited to like a case of beer or two bottles of booze. It's LEGAL to grow pot plants, up to 8 plants, for personal use, but not for resale.

However, just a few months ago the city voted our county "wet", but as of yet we still have no beer or wine in Kroger, convenience stores, or Walmart and no liquor stores have opened yet. One other thing, pornography is illegal too, so none of our stores carry "dirty" magazines and BlockBuster doesn't carry any X-rated movies either.

------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
If YOU are the "exception" to what I am saying, then why does my commentary bother you so much?
I don't hate your kids, I HATE YOU!

Quote
kidlesskim
I live in a county in Kentucky, USA where it's illegal to purchase carry out alcoholic beverages of any kind because we are a "dry' county. However, in the neighboring city in the same county it is called a "moist" city, meaning you can buy alcohol and drink it on the premises, but a meal purchase is REQUIRED for each person ordering an alcoholic beverage and the limit per person is three. Creating moon shine and stills are legal, but ONLY for personal consumption and not for resale. It's considered boot legging to buy alcohol for another person from another area and bring it back for a fee, but you can GIVE it to them though, but the amounts are limited to like a case of beer or two bottles of booze. It's LEGAL to grow pot plants, up to 8 plants, for personal use, but not for resale.

However, just a few months ago the city voted our county "wet", but as of yet we still have no beer or wine in Kroger, convenience stores, or Walmart and no liquor stores have opened yet. One other thing, pornography is illegal too, so none of our stores carry "dirty" magazines and BlockBuster doesn't carry any X-rated movies either.

Sure you don't live in an shari'a country?

Sounds like one O.o

_______________________

“I was talking about children that have not been properly house-trained. Left to their own impulses and indulged by doting or careless parents almost all children are yahoos. Loud, selfish, cruel, unaffectionate, jealous, perpetually striving for attention, empty-headed, for ever prating or if words fail them simply bawling, their voices grown huge from daily practice: the very worst company in the world. But what I dislike even more than the natural child is the affected child, the hulking oaf of seven or eight that skips heavily about with her hands dangling in front of her -- a little squirrel or bunny-rabbit -- and prattling away in a baby's voice.”


― Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove


lib'-er-ty: the freedom given to you to make the wrong decision, based on the reasoned belief that you will normally make the right one.

Quote
Snark Shark
" It's LEGAL to grow pot plants, up to 8 plants, for personal use, but not for resale."

..and THEN the stoners moved in!

"BlockBuster"

YOU STILL HAVE BLOCKBUSTER???
I thought they went outta business!

They may be, I haven't been there in a long time, but when they WERE open, they didn't rent any and no place else rents or sells X-rated ANYTHING either. However, I did discover there's an online liquor store in Brooklyn, NY that will SHIP alcohol to my area and UPS never says a word about it even though it is against the law in my area and "the shipment" comes with, "ADULT SIGNATURE REQUIRED" instructions. I looked up the penalties JUST IN CASE, and the first time you're caught it's a verbal warning, the second time it's UP TO 30 days in jail, and a year in jail for the third offense. That's why whenever I order any to be delivered I click on the, I'd like to enclose a gift card" and use a VISA gift card to buy it and register the card under an assumed name. That way, IF I got caught, I could pretend it was a gift I knew NOTHING about!:jump

------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
If YOU are the "exception" to what I am saying, then why does my commentary bother you so much?
I don't hate your kids, I HATE YOU!

Quote
Snark Shark
" It's LEGAL to grow pot plants, up to 8 plants, for personal use, but not for resale."

..and THEN the stoners moved in!

"BlockBuster"

YOU STILL HAVE BLOCKBUSTER???
I thought they went outta business!

Who has the Twinkie concession?

_______________________________________________
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

I wasn't allowed any alcohol until age 14. And even then, it was a couple sips. Maybe half a beer. I think it all depends on the maturity of the kid, but I think anything alcoholic before the teenage years is unacceptable.

Quote
t.
Sure you don't live in an shari'a country?

Sounds like one O.o

In North Carolina, you can buy beer and wine at the grocery or convenience store, but hard liquor has to be purchased at the ABC (Alcohol and Beverage Control) store, a government-run business. Funny that the state is always so hot to pass various sin taxes and try to interfere in the personal lives of folks, but make a hefty profit each year selling the evil drink.

The county where I live used to be dry, but around 2000 a referendum was passed allowing liquor-by-the-drink at restaurants. Thankfully, economic common sense prevailed over the religious buttholes who fought the passage of the law. No decent restaurants would open in this area until the issue was resolved; business advocates were hollering because people would drive 5 miles down the road, cross the county line into the wet area and eat there. It was a financial drain from our county.

Back to the subject ... I was allowed to taste beer when I was a wee sprat. It's said that people develop deterring habits if they are exposed to it early? I remember that the taste of beer was so vile and nasty, when I was 3 or 4, that the prejudice lasts til today. I can't stand the stuff

Quote
Dorisan

Quote
t.
Sure you don't live in an shari'a country?

Sounds like one O.o

In North Carolina, you can buy beer and wine at the grocery or convenience store, but hard liquor has to be purchased at the ABC (Alcohol and Beverage Control) store, a government-run business. Funny that the state is always so hot to pass various sin taxes and try to interfere in the personal lives of folks, but make a hefty profit each year selling the evil drink.

The county where I live used to be dry, but around 2000 a referendum was passed allowing liquor-by-the-drink at restaurants. Thankfully, economic common sense prevailed over the religious buttholes who fought the passage of the law. No decent restaurants would open in this area until the issue was resolved; business advocates were hollering because people would drive 5 miles down the road, cross the county line into the wet area and eat there. It was a financial drain from our county.

Back to the subject ... I was allowed to taste beer when I was a wee sprat. It's said that people develop deterring habits if they are exposed to it early? I remember that the taste of beer was so vile and nasty, when I was 3 or 4, that the prejudice lasts til today. I can't stand the stuff

yuk.gif

Point is that "alcohool" doesn't mean much.

A superalcohilc is different from wine or beer. Wine is an art, folks! The right wine with the right dish. And so is beer. There is not one kind of beer, there are several and each has its flavour and right place in the World.
You need wine or beer with a proper course. In the right glass, too.
Teaching a children this actually decrease the possibility that he will go on to get dangerously drunk during the infamouse teenager years. Of course not a lot of wine or beer. A little. Small sips. With the commentary about how well that particular wine (and year) compliment the dishes. Teaching moments, oh, the memories
But I suppose breeders don't spend the hours necessary for this.

_______________________

“I was talking about children that have not been properly house-trained. Left to their own impulses and indulged by doting or careless parents almost all children are yahoos. Loud, selfish, cruel, unaffectionate, jealous, perpetually striving for attention, empty-headed, for ever prating or if words fail them simply bawling, their voices grown huge from daily practice: the very worst company in the world. But what I dislike even more than the natural child is the affected child, the hulking oaf of seven or eight that skips heavily about with her hands dangling in front of her -- a little squirrel or bunny-rabbit -- and prattling away in a baby's voice.”


― Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove


lib'-er-ty: the freedom given to you to make the wrong decision, based on the reasoned belief that you will normally make the right one.

Quote
Snark Shark

Quote
yurble
I find the 21 restriction in the US really strange. At 18 you can vote but you're not really an adult? That's an actual case of age discrimination, unlike the things breeders whine about.

I agree with that- you can vote but not drink??? It's just kind of odd.

In 1984, Ellen Goodman said, in a column on underage drinking, that back when young men started arguing "if we're old enough to fight, we're old enough to vote," we should have raised the draft age to 21 instead of lowering the voting age. At the end, she said: "What then of the voter who says that anyone old enough to die for his country is old enough to drink in it? Tell him 18 is much, much too young to die for his country."

You can read the column here:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19840217&id=v8daAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4837,4088469
(move the little blue rectangle on the right)

I must say it's interesting to imagine how the debate would have gone HAD we tried to raise the draft age.

I also wonder, why is it that, before the 20th century, when adolescence didn't officially exist and young men were expected to do men's work starting in their early teens, they STILL couldn't vote until 21? Or did that have to do with the fact that so many back then didn't finish high school anyway because doing so wasn't as important back then?

BTW, I very much agree with letting kids have sips of wine at dinner at an early age. I understand that Europeans do that and that they don't have nearly as many alcohol problems as we do.