Kids and Alcohol??

[A Mum]

(Sorry if this has already been a topic for discussion in the past)

This seems to be in the news/TV a fair bit at the moment,
And having just read this news story....

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.html

Was actually shocked that 'millions of australians have first drink by 10'

When did you have your first alcoholic drink?
Did you have permission from your parents?
When did/will you let your children have thier first drink?

[LBT]

I was 14, A Mum We raided my mate's dads spirit cabinet while he was away. Told ourselves we would never drink again...didnt for a couple of years.

[FlyingHigh]

Doubt there would be an Aussie kid who has not had a sip of the old man's beer.
But what sort of effect does half-a-dozen sips, (and how regularly) have on really young children?

[A Mum]

I was 17 - Can't remember if my parents knew or not, but I don't think they did.

I was a bit miffed the other day when my daughter was invited to a friends house,
she is 16 and her friend that she was going to is 16,
They also had two 14 year old friends coming over as well.

My daughter asked me if she could 'drink' as her friends father had bought alcohol for them as they were staying home.
I was like
First of all because 2 of the girls were 14, second of all because the father did not ask any parents permission.

Being the mean mum...lol... I said No, and explained to her why, one reason of which she was going to be on the other side of Adelaide to us and that she needed to 'keep her wits' about her being in a 'strange' environment.

We let our son have a few drinks (and start drinking in moderation) when he was 17 at an 'after party' when his team won a grand final.

Our kids are pretty 'strong' and don't let peer pressure get to them,
So we've been pretty lucky.

I think, from what I hear from my kids that most start drinking at 15/16.
I think 16 is okay....
but 15 way too young.

But that's just me I know all parents are different

[Lightning McQueen]

I was 17 - Can't remember if my parents knew or not, but I don't think they did.

I was a bit miffed the other day when my daughter was invited to a friends house,
she is 16 and her friend that she was going to is 16,
They also had two 14 year old friends coming over as well.

My daughter asked me if she could 'drink' as her friends father had bought alcohol for them as they were staying home.
I was like
First of all because 2 of the girls were 14, second of all because the father did not ask any parents permission.

Being the mean mum...lol... I said No, and explained to her why, one reason of which she was going to be on the other side of Adelaide to us and that she needed to 'keep her wits' about her being in a 'strange' environment.

We let our son have a few drinks (and start drinking in moderation) when he was 17 at an 'after party' when his team won a grand final.

Our kids are pretty 'strong' and don't let peer pressure get to them,
So we've been pretty lucky.

I think, from what I hear from my kids that most start drinking at 15/16.
I think 16 is okay....
but 15 way too young.

But that's just me I know all parents are different

There's different maturity levels in kids though, I've seen 14 year olds act more responsible and mature than 18 year olds. I think it really depends on the individual. I'd rather have my kids drink around me so I can monitor their limitations and behavior opposed to sneaking around behind my back and making idiots of themselves. My oldest lad doesn't like beer so it's going to be expensive for him to have a few.

[JK]

I had my first full stubby of beer at age 9 ... Was in Canada with my folks and sister staying with some family friends - All the adults went out and the kids my sisters age said they were gonna drink but I had to shut up or they would beat me severely ... I bribed them to let me have a beer and I wouldn't dob, so I played 8-ball drinking my Heineken and listening to repeated track-after-track of Soft Cell's Tainted Love (I've probably supplied too much detail here).

[heater31]

my parents used to dip the dummy in beer and shove it in our mouths.

Used to take 2 or 3 sips of my mum creme de menthe for years until I was about 13 or 14.

Started on beer at 15 in the footy changerooms after a game in the seniors and started the usual teenage tricks about then too.

by 17 was drinking in pubs or at least trying as living in a country town most people knew your real age including the bar staff got away with a few times . Also the oldies supplied for 18ths


and no I'm not an alco

[JAS]

Don't remember exactly but I'd have been under 10 if you count heavily watered down wine or very weak shandy...still technically alcoholic.

My parents had a very continental attitude so us kids would get the above at Christmas, birthdays and family celebrations etc.

Vividly remember my first undiluted drink though. Grandmother took me on my first holiday abroad as a 13th birthday present...Yugoslavia (before it split up)...at one of those traditional folk evenings at the hotel I was handed what she thought was a small glass of Ribena. When I started giggling and said it tasted funny (about 2/3's the way through) she took a sip...it was some sort of local blackcurrant liqueur and quite strong...quickly replaced with a Coke

As for my kids...exempt.

Regards
JAS

[A Mum]

You know what.
I think I misinterpreted this whole thing.
I was just shocked at the headline

In reading your stories and starting to remember that I too had sips of grandpa's beer,
Mum's shamrock cream etc at a young age,
And I too am not an alcoholic...
I have about 1 drink of alcohol every 12 months these days...lol.

When I started this thread, I was thinking more along the lines of excessive drinking and got that into my head.

[Thiele]

I dont drink much. Started when i was over 18

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

I was under 10 when i had my first drink, but didnt regularly drink (1 or 2 drinks every 3 or 4 weeks) til i was about 13, which was when i was able to occasionally get served alcohol without ID at footy and cricket matches.

My parents were always relatively chilled about things when i was 14, as they knew i was able to buy alcohol myself more often than not, so by age 14 and 15 they were happy to buy me a 6 pack from time to time if i was going to a mates place or a party, the way they saw it was that if they bought it for me then atleast they knew what and how much i was drinking, and as a result i was always pretty honest about what i was doing and where i was going.

It was a good way to be, as i saw some people who had trouble getting alcohol when they were about 15, so when they finally were able to get it they made sure they made the most of it and got enough to last, this usually ended in them being pretty messy and finishing close to a whole bottle of Beam or something like that.

when i was 15 and abit, i was regularly able to gain entry to a number of pubs and clubs around Adelaide, and by 16 it was a majority, when i was 16 and abit, i could pretty much get into all pubs and clubs except for those with a reputation for being strict on ID.

Age 17 i had passed in what would have been over 50 licensed venues around Australia (Including some pretty interesting places in Kings Cross ), that was until i got busted in the Adelaide Casino underage, copped a warning and then had to sit it out til i was 18

When i turned 18 i went pretty hard for a month or 2, but then I found I was over it all abit, suppose i had just gotten out my system i guess.

Now Im 20 and I find I drink less, and less often than most other people my age, so i suppose in that sense getting fairly used to Alcohol under 18 is a good thing, particularly because generally once over 18 people have more money to spend on booze and its alot more freely available.

[hearts on fire]

i started a couple times last year at the age of 15, now do it a fair bit in moderation at 16.

[Psyber]

I was 10. My family was at a "Beer garden" in the hills with friends and I asked to taste my older sister's Hock, Lime, and Lemon.
With family consent, as it was diluted alcohol, she gave it to me and got herself another one.
I invented Creme de Menthe milkshakes aged about 13 when someone had given my mother a bottle but everyone found it too sweet.
However, I never had more than one [weak] alcoholic drink a week until I was about 18 and at University.
[And none at all between 15 and 18 when I was into distance running and Hockey..]

[devilsadvocate]

I was about 12 I think. My Grandpa would always give me half of his first longneck. From there grew the long love affair that I have today with beer. Some say beer is an acquired taste, that most don't like until they're older. For me it was love at first taste.

Now I'm 27 I drink more beer than ever. It's the best tasting liquid known to man. I'm not overly fussy provided it's cold.

I did go through a stage of drinking bourbon when I was about 17/18, but grew out of it pretty quick. I was an angry drunk lol. Don't mind the occasional night on Vodka or Baccardi if I've had about 20 beers to kick things off, but it's rare that I migrate to the hard stuff.

Gimme beer, lots of it and I'm a happy man.

Back on topic, I think letting kids drink too young is irresponsible. Letting me have beer at 12/13 or whenever was too young in hindsight. I do agree that if they're going to drink, it's better that it happens at home, but I'll be right pissed off if my kids drink before they're 16.

As for your original dilemma Mum, I think your daughter's friends dad was halfway right to say they could drink if they're staying at home, but totally agree that he should have asked all the parents of the kids involved. Personally, that will be my plan of attack when my kids are 16 - let them have all their mates around, contact all parents, inform them of what's going on, invite them over if need be and let them get on it a bit at home. Waaaaaayyyy better option than getting up to the sort of stuff I used to as an irresponsible teenager.

(My 17 year old self would want to belt my current self for this post)