I would never throw a kegger for my child and her friends, nor would I buy her undrage friends alcohol or let them drink at my house. i would , however, let my teenage child have a small amount of wine at a family dinner if she wants to. I agree, teaching moderation is the key.

Its hard to keep your teenage from drinking. I'm only 20 yrs old and will be officially legal at the end of this month. Personally its hard to keep a teenager from drinking.i was a teenager myself...i know. I always went to parties. But maybe its b/c I live in a small town and nobody really gives a crap. My b/f is a year younger than me and he can get served in a bar. There are many teenagers that I know of that can get served in a bar. If my teenager wants to drink they can either just drink with me and the family (nothing to the extreme like gettin drunk off their butts) or go to a party. And if they get caught cops they would have to pay for the consquences.

**There are some ppl who I kow who are in the Navy, Army and Marines who feel that the drinking age should be back to 18 b/c if you are able to serve in the military, drive, and smoke cigs by age 18 you should be able to drink. Some states the drinking age used to 18. Canada is still 18 so teenagers could go up there and drink. Its not hard to get a fake ID.

I wouldn't serve my teenager alcohol. I will try to teach them that you can have a great time without it. My husband and I don't drink (well, rarely in social occasions, but I haven't had any alcohol since 2005) and alcoholism runs in our family.

What my parents did with me with drinking, drugs, and alcohol is they explained to me exactly what these things do to your body and organs. They explained how stupid you look and act when you're high and drunk. When the news would report a fatal accident from drinking, they would calmly explain "...and that's why we want you to be smart about alcohol".

They didn't make it something to rebel towards. They calmly and rationally gave me the facts. And when I went on to high school and everyone around me smoked and drank, I did see how stupid they looked, and how their clothes stank, and how miserable they were when they were hung over and vomiting. It never held any appeal for me, and .I'm going to do my best to arm my children with the same information.

i agree
and i must say id rather have my child (over 16) drink at home or in my supevision than at a party. atleast with me i know they are safe

but to a certain degree. theres a limit

most people in the military under 21 who feel they should have that right are irresponsible and immature. sorry but it doesnt take moral standing to sign a contract. im so against lowering the drinking ages for people like this.

and do you think the reason you went to parties is because of the fact that no one gave a crap?
had you of had consequences for your actions and more parent involvement do you think it would of effected how much you drank?
im just a year older then you are, and i made sure not to drink and drive ( i rarely ever actually drank, although of course i had before) because my parents were so involved in my life and i knew they would realize immediately and i knew how they felt about it. (i lived in a small town too)

Some parents use it to show kids what alcohol does. The reaction they get may vary with each child though. Personally, I don't like alcohol. When I was turned 16, my mother let me drink and I eventually got drunk because I was inexperienced and didn't know how to handle the alcohol. After spending the night throwing up and crying (depressed drunk), I pretty much swore off of the stuff. I've had a sip ever now and then, but even that little sip makes me nauseous and reminds me of that time where I got drunk. I'm not exactly a fan of living that again.

just because you let them drink at home doesn't mean they won't be out drinking with their friends or at parties.

The majority drinking age in Canada is 19. Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta are all 18.

I see your point about that. However, if you're mature enough by the country's standards to be able to wield a gun and shoot someone, or whatever horrible crime you get to do in the name of "democracy", you 'should' be responsible enough to drink a beer, a glass of wine, whatever. Either they should lower the drinking age to 18 (which I oppose) or raise the enlistment age to 21 (which I would be much more in favor of-not just b/c of alcohol, either.)

First of all...there are many ppl who do stupid stuff while in the military and the military can give two craps as well.

What is gonna be the difference whether the drinking age is lowered or not? Teens will still find a way to get alcohol.

And I only went to parties to have fun and hang out with my friends. I hardly ever went to just get drunk. I also have never even gotta in trouble for underage drinking. Heck I've walked around in front cops while I was drunk and they never did anything. I dont drink and drive and I dont let my friends go anywhere if they were drinking. If I ever wanted to go home I would stop drinking alcohol and start drinking soda or water for a few hours before I leave. I'm not irresponsible!!!

Try living in a small town with ppl who dont care cuz everyone does it and there are no town cops only state cops. The only way anyone would get into trouble by state cops is if there are some disturbances reported which is rare.

oh i agree with that
i just mean if a child has an established relationship with their parents and they know that their parents respect them enough to allow them a little to drink at home...then the teens might learn to respect the fact that they have that priviledge
and not go messing it up
then againb...teenagers...

well first off, calling what service members dp "horrible crimes in the name of democracy" i feel is very disrespectful. until you have been to 3rd world countries, and actually seen what is being done and not just reported by a liberal media, i feel you should refrain from using what our "horrible troops who commit horrible crimes" are giving you..freedom of speech.
you dont hear about any of the good that is being done.


regardless, i actually agree with you on the drinking age and enlistment age. they had actually tried lowering the legal drinking age to 18 on military bases before, which had a bad result.
i think the 3 years between 18 and 21 are significant. at least i know that i am a very different person from what i was when i was 18.


and by no cops do you mean there is only highway patrol and valley center sheriffs, who deal strictly with breaking and entering?
like i said, i grew up in a small town with little law enforcment ..
and not drinking alcohol for a few hours before you leave a party does not get it out of your system unless you only drank 2 drinks or so. you would of still gotten a dui had you of been pulled over which would of been detrimental to your future.
saying that and that you walked around drunk in front of cops shows irresponsibility.
and your right, there are many, many irresponsible people at every age and at every walk in life.

I agree that's it's completely ridiculous that you're allowed to get killed (not kill other people mind you) in the military at age 18, vote for a leader who controls a very powerful nation, and destroy your own lungs at the age of 18... yet you're not allowed to destroy your liver, too??

The issue is that when men register to vote, they must also register for the draft. Stupidly, we don't even use that anymore, plus it's incredibly sexist that only men have to sign up. But, since you can be drafted at 18, that means voluntary service starts at 18. It comes from the idea of "to have the right to vote, you should be willing to defend your country!"

Honestly, all of those things should be moved up to age 21, or 20, or what ever arbitrary age they want. (Why 21 now that I think about it? That's a silly age!).

It's never going to happen, because "Oh, you can't take away the right of democracy from young adults! They need to learn how democracy works!" And so, attached to that is, "if you want to vote, then you want to serve your country, so join the draft!". It's a vicious, dumb cycle; it's outdated and it needs to be changed.

For one thing, either get rid of the draft, make it start at an older age, and include women in it if you're going to keep it. Voting can still start at 18 if people get their panties in a bunch, but raise the age of the draft to say... 20. That's a nice round number. Secondly, lower the drinking age by one year. Now it's 20, too. Finally, cigarettes are going to be illegal soon by my thoughts, but make that age 20, too. Just because.

Now kids can "learn democracy" without worrying that they're going to be pulled into a war. I really don't like the draft...

My brothers didn't do the SS thing. None of them. They don't feel they should have to and I agree with them, it's caca. Recruiters call the house too, all the time. They always pretend to be gay. lol

What i mean by no cops is that there are only State cops patrolling the highways who only deal with breaking and entering and violence. Whatever about the not drinking alcohol for a few hours before leaving a party. Call me irresponsible all you want. I'm obviously stay alive arent I??!! And I've changed my ways. I havent done the things I used to in the past. I'm a mother and i'm doing what is right for my daughter. I'm not gonna be a screw up.

The first time i tried alchole was when i was 15, i came home flat ass drunk and spent the night and the day after puking into the toilet. My parents, obviously, knew that i had been drinking, and obviously disapproved, but they let me make my own mistakes and didn't yell at me. But as a kid, your more afriad of dissappointing your parents then them yelling at you. After that time, i had the occasional drink, i'd sip beer at a party, but i would never lose my inhibitions. I think it was the morning after getting drunk that make it lose it's 'glamour'. puking was NOT fun. And i respect my parents because they told me that i SHOULDN"T be doing it, but they knew that i'd do it anyways at a party, so they told me to always call them to pick me up if i was at a drinking party. And i always did call them. I think they brought me closer to my parents, expecially if they trusted my judgement. :] and since then, i'd always call them to pick me up at a party. But my parents never allowed me to drink under their roof. So i guess its a matter of balance.

Haven't had to cross this bridge with my own children, but I plan to go the way it was done in my family.

We're irish, but we emigrated to australia when I was almost 9. We have some extended family here in australia- either way the legal drinking age is the same in both countries, and both sides of my extended family seem to have followed the same approach to those "first drinks"

In short-hosting or allowing a "drinking party" for kids uderage-absolutely not.
Around the home, (family parties etc) You might be allowed a "shandy" (pretty much 50/50 beer and lemonade) to yourself around the age of 16 or 17, to drink at your own pace, but while surrounded by family.
By the age of 18 you've probably been allowed a few "shandy's" and if you've handled that ok, maybe even a full strength drink from time to time, in a family situation.

So far, none of my siblings cousins has turned 18 and gone crazy drinking.
They've learned responsible drinking and the drinking "rules" already and alcohol is not a foreign substance to be experimented with now that they can legally enter a pub.

I've never heard of a shandy! Are they good?

against it there have been to many deaths of teenagers drinking at home at a party that the parents have supplied the booze for it is wrong and i am glad that in my state the parents get charged and fined just like there kids would you like it you child went to a friends house and the parents offered your child a drink i dont think so.

I am not disrespecting the soldiers; only the actions they do which are condoned by our gov't in the name of war. There is a difference. And if you believe we are in .Iraq b/c it's a poor 3rd world country that needs humanitarian help, I suggest you study up Darfur, Tibet, Haiti, etc. There is no reason to be in .Iraq other than financial gain.

But that is not for here and now.

I think raising the enlistment age would be fantastic for people, but not the gov't. They want those freshly graduated 18 year olds who cannot or do not want to go to college or work and aren't sure what to do with their life. It certainly fills a purpose.

Honestly, I think alcohol is such a terribly harmful drug that I would like to see tighter restrictions on it all around in this country.

I'm not sure about this, it's anecdotal, but in .Europe aren't kids acclimated to drinking w/ meals and it becomes less a taboo thing that kids abuse because of the way it's introduced? I wonder if that approach would work here; or is the media too strong a force to be ignored?

This kind of reminds me of a .calvin and .Hobbes cartoon where .Calvin finds his gpa's cigarettes. He informs his mother that he is going to go have a smoke, and she nonchalantly acknowledges this and tells him where the lighter is. He thinks his mom has turned a new corner into cool, and he sits and lights one up. Of course he gasps, turns red, cant' breathe, etc. His mom comes out and goes "Did we learn a little lesson today"?

Of course .Calvin misses the point and says "Yeah, I can't trust you".
Heh.