Did you buy alcohol for your Freshman when you dropped them off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. He's a wine snob, and I got him some that he likes.

But he grew up in Europe where he had wine from his early teen years, and has done multiple workshops and education courses over the years. He's very discerning

Aw, that's sweet. It will be a nice memory to hang on to in a few years when he's a blackout drunk shoplifting bottles of Mad Dog 2020 from the 7/11.

[Anonymous]

Heck no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I love best is that the people who think it's ok to help poison their children's brains with alcohol are probably also the ones who are afraid of a bag of Cheetos and an hour of Roblox.

Uh, no. I think you have that wrong. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If so, what is the reasoning?

The drinking age is 21.

So, NO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Many reasons. First, it's illegal.

Beyond that, this is not the 80's where everyone looks the other way (yes, my and friends' parents bought booze for our graduation parties at their homes). Off the top of my head, you could be liable criminally if your kid let's other drink your purchased booze at school. What if someone drinks, drives, and kills someone, and you provided the alcohol? Further, you could cause the dorm contract to be invalidated, based on the rules in the housing contract you agreed to if it's found in the dorm.

In the 80s (until 1985 in my state and many others) it was legal to drink at age 18. One high school tradition in the 70s and 80s was the 18 year old seniors cutting school early on friends' birthdays to go for a celebratory first drink, such as sharing a 6 pack from the liquor store in the school patking lot.

Have you ever watched "It's a Wonderful Life"? In the beginning when the high school son is getting ready to go to the high school dsnce, the mom warns him not to drink too much. 1930s.

Since it was legal in most states to drink at 18 for most of the 1980s and before, parents and people in general has a much more accepting attitude towards teens drinking, even after the drinking age moved to 21 in the mid 1980s. Parents would do things like buy the celebratory champagne for prom. Our high school tradition and many high school traditions was to give out a commemorative souvenir champagne glass with the prom logo on it to the seniors. I was on the prom committee back in the late 80s, and the high school spirit gear catalogues had pages and pages of themed champagne glasses, next to the pompoms, spirit banners, homecoming tiaras and balloons. These still were sold until at least the early 90s when my younger siblings graduated, nearly a decade after the drinking age was 21.

It was a very different time, and kids were not so bingy and sneaky about alcohol.

While I wouldn't condone my kid slamming down a brewsky on their senior picnic, it was a much more European approach to alcohol than the current model.

I would definitely not buy the booze for a minor now, even as a college dorm warming gift.

Drinking laws are so much stricter now than when we were teens.

I graduated from high school in 1979 and became legal to drink at 18. Each year after that, the State of Massachusetts raised the age by one year, stopping at 21.

The rate of fatalities from drunk driving went down dramatically after the drinking age was raised. Given what we know about young adult brain development, that's not surprising.

The "European approach" to drinking, meaning permissive and often referenced in this forum, is actually problematic in that statistically it leads to negative outcomes including alcohol abuse in adulthood. See studies referenced on the previous page of this thread.

I'm the same age as you and went to college in a state were the age was 19 for my entire time. The college actually served beer (3.2%, which was the norm in the state) at school functions. You have to drink a LOT of 3.2 beer to really get drunk, although there were certainly people who did. Interestingly there was very little hard alcohol and very little drug use, although that may have just been the times. Very different from what my kids experienced in college, which seemed to be much more binge drinking and hard alcohol.

Agree that the European approach is not healthy. England in particular has a much higher rate of alcohol consumption.

[Anonymous]

Ahhh. No, we did not. Never even crossed my mind.

Kid was able to find it though without much issue.

My parents did not either, but it was readily available at parties etc without a problem and once I was out of the dorm and in my fraternity, came over. Fully stocked fridge when I moved into the house.

[Anonymous]

The first few weeks are full of alcohol poisoning 911 calls at most universities.