Nope

21+ is when they can have a drink and especially in my presence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We started allowing our children to drink during trips to Europe. Waiters would bring wine glasses for children when there were as young as 14 or 15. I think it helped demystify alcohol and made drinking a glass of wine with a meal very enjoyable for them. I think a drinking age of 21 is insanely puritanical and causes many unintended consequences not the least of which is binge drinking on college campuses.

I wish we would put this pervasive "BUT IN EUROPE!!!" myth to rest. Europeans have among the highest binge drinking/alcoholism rates in the world, including among teens.

If you want to serve your kid alcohol that's fine, but don't act like there's even a hint of data suggesting it is beneficial. In fact, the research is crystal clear that age one started drinking and binge drinking rates are very much inversely correlated.

Thank you. The number of people who still believe this is astounding to me.

We did for DC2 after freshman year in college (age 19). Once he'd been through the fraternity process it seemed kind of silly not to allow a drink with dinner. We didn't allow it for DC1 because we didn't want to set a bad example for DC2. So yes, double standard. DC2 is also interested in learning about wine, while DC1 is not.

Anonymous wrote:We started allowing our children to drink during trips to Europe. Waiters would bring wine glasses for children when there were as young as 14 or 15. I think it helped demystify alcohol and made drinking a glass of wine with a meal very enjoyable for them. I think a drinking age of 21 is insanely puritanical and causes many unintended consequences not the least of which is binge drinking on college campuses.

I wish we would put this pervasive "BUT IN EUROPE!!!" myth to rest. Europeans have among the highest binge drinking/alcoholism rates in the world, including among teens.

If you want to serve your kid alcohol that's fine, but don't act like there's even a hint of data suggesting it is beneficial. In fact, the research is crystal clear that age one started drinking and binge drinking rates are very much inversely correlated.

We started allowing our children to drink during trips to Europe. Waiters would bring wine glasses for children when there were as young as 14 or 15. I think it helped demystify alcohol and made drinking a glass of wine with a meal very enjoyable for them. I think a drinking age of 21 is insanely puritanical and causes many unintended consequences not the least of which is binge drinking on college campuses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age? Absolutely. I wouldn't let them get drunk but if they are the type to want to drink, they will almost assuredly be drinking already at school.

I didn't drink in college until I was 21. Just a data point.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't have drank until I was 21, too, had it been illegal for me to have alcohol. But when I went to college I was grandfathered in and could drink beer legally. I literally had people the same age as me just a few months younger, living in the same dorm as me, going to the same parties - it was legal for me to drink but illegal for them to drink. Completely arbitrary.

It's good practice for teenagers to see adults drinking socially and not getting drunk. It teaches a healthy respect for alcohol. You don't want their first exposure to be jungle juice (made with everclear) at a house party in college.

Also, to the person who mentioned cigarettes... my grandpa let me puff on his cigar at 13. I hated it and thought it was filthy. Never smoked anything else to this day (not even weed). Totally took the allure away.

Yes, because i'd rather my daughter not see alcohol as forbidden fruit. I'd rather her see it as something normal that adults sometimes enjoy, and then go off to college and not have the urge to binge drink and do a bunch of stupid stuff because OMG BOOZE!

I also assume that if my kid has been away at college, she probably has a fake ID and drinks there. I don't really see the big deal in an 18-21 y.o. drinking a bit.

I wouldn't serve someone else's child alcohol, though, without their express permission.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol what is the point? So your child can get buzzed? I never understood giving your child a drink. Get a coke...

The point is to take away the mystery, teach them to drink socially, to complement a meal with a glass of wine (it's original purpose is to go with food), to give them a safe place to start. They don't start to get interested until 16 or so -

The only reason to drink is to get buzzed. Do you plan on giving your kid cigarettes, pot, black tar hashish, crystal meth, etc over dinner?

The only reason to drink is to get buzzed?

No, sorry. A great glass of wine paired with the right food can be fantastic. And I love a well-brewed hoppy beer. My one beer or glass of wine with dinner is most certainly not about getting buzzed.

But in any event, we live in DC, where it is not legal to provide a drink to even your own child in your home, so no.

My co-worker preps her kids before they go to college. She let's them drink so they know what it feels like when they have 1-2 beers vs. 1 beer that might be spiked vs. getting drunk off beer. She does the same with wine & liquor as well.

Her rationale is that she wants them to learn their limits and would rather be present when they do that verses out on their own at college for the first time.

My daughter is 17 and we've allowed her to have a glass of wine or champagne during a special occasion. Only one and never outside of our home. She's sipped several of my husband's beers and has hated them all so far, just like me. I think she may be a wine & liquor girl like me and if so, I may do something similar as my co-worker. Just because I know how quickly those sweet, fruity college liquor drinks can sneak up on you.

I come from a military family where we lived in Europe starting when I was 12. I was served wine at dinners with Italian and other foreign officers....not a lot..but a small glass. It taught me to what sort of wines I liked and I learned how to pair wines with food. I then went on to live in Belgium for four years and learned about beer. These have been life skills for me going forward. I will certainly teaching my children about wine and beer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age? Absolutely. I wouldn't let them get drunk but if they are the type to want to drink, they will almost assuredly be drinking already at school.

I didn't drink in college until I was 21. Just a data point.

That's why I added the caveat of "if they are the type to want to drink." If your kid has no interest in drinking then of course it doesn't make sense to offer them a drink, what would be the point?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol what is the point? So your child can get buzzed? I never understood giving your child a drink. Get a coke...

The point is to take away the mystery, teach them to drink socially, to complement a meal with a glass of wine (it's original purpose is to go with food), to give them a safe place to start. They don't start to get interested until 16 or so -

The only reason to drink is to get buzzed. Do you plan on giving your kid cigarettes, pot, black tar hashish, crystal meth, etc over dinner?

Have you never had a good cocktail or glass of wine or beer? I don't get buzzed on one glass of wine, but I don't generally drink more than that. I made myself a cocktail last night, only had the one, and didn't feel buzzed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol what is the point? So your child can get buzzed? I never understood giving your child a drink. Get a coke...

The point is to take away the mystery, teach them to drink socially, to complement a meal with a glass of wine (it's original purpose is to go with food), to give them a safe place to start. They don't start to get interested until 16 or so -

The only reason to drink is to get buzzed. Do you plan on giving your kid cigarettes, pot, black tar hashish, crystal meth, etc over dinner?

Anonymous wrote:Lol what is the point? So your child can get buzzed? I never understood giving your child a drink. Get a coke...

The point is to take away the mystery, teach them to drink socially, to complement a meal with a glass of wine (it's original purpose is to go with food), to give them a safe place to start. They don't start to get interested until 16 or so -