Cheers!Follow

Drinking at home 'cuts bingeing'


Quick synopsis of the article is that a study was done that showed more children who were allowed to drink under age with their parents were less likely to go crazy and binge drink later on. The idea is that if you dont make a big deal about something and make it taboo, that will stick with the kids as they become adults. My own parents did this with me, starting at age 6. I was allowed here and there to try their drinks, have watered down wine during holidays, and by the time I was a teen, I could drink at home so long as I stayed home for the evening. Growing up, drinking was never a big deal for me. I could have it whenever I wanted it. Watching my friends in high school plan nights to get wasted seemed frivolous to me and frankly, not so fun.

I plan on doing the exact same thing with my own kids. Except I may not give them full strength saki when I have a party in order to get them to sleep quicker, like my father enjoyed doing to my brother and I. Although I do adore saki now

So would you allow your children to drink at home? Anything else you may allow your kids to do for the same reason? Sex with their high school honeys? Drugs? Why/why not?

Technically, it's legal for minors to consume alcohol in a private residence when their parent or legal guardian is present and approving (in Illinois, at least).

I say, bottoms up.

There have been quite a few changes to the booze laws in Texas in recent years so I don't know if it's legal here anymore.

Well, there's obviously limitations and judgement with it. I wouldn't much care if my son (when he was older) had a beer or glass of wine under my supervision in the home. He sees us drink on infrequent occassions but it's not to excess and nothing covert or anything.

Hell, if he asked, I'd give him a sip of beer now. He'd just make a face and say "Bleah!" anyway. Besides, my dad gave me beer when I was about five or six and it never did done me no nothing wrong to my smarts.

Teens learn to be adults by doing adult things. Gain a little experience drinking at home responsibly and you'll drink more responsibly when you're legal.



I'd be asking myself why my 8 y/o is asking for a shot of tequila. Actually that reminds me of the time when my dad gave me a shot of whiskey when I was like 5 years olds. It hurt like hell to swallow, so if anything it satisfied my curiousity and lowered my desire to drink.

Edited, May 11th 2007 9:33am by Lefian

Edited, May 11th 2007 9:36am by Lefian

Was it the alcohol or the rape that followed that turned you off to booze?

The g/f and I had this discussion a while back. We both drink, but we don't drink (well, often). Both of us drank a little at home when we were younger. It was never frowned upon for me to reach over and have a sip of my Dad's wine or beer. I know it was the same at her house. Neither of us drank a lot in high school or in college. I'm pretty sure that we'd both raise children the same way.

As for drugs I don't do them. Never have, never will. Not a clue how to approach that one. At least I don't have to worry about that yet.

I started drinking with my dad when I was four or five. I don't plan on starting quite that early with my kids, but I won't care if they have a drink every now and then under my roof. I won't care if they burn a joint once their homework's done either.

My name isn't Lefein or didn't you get the memo? If that isn't what you're talking about idk wtf you are.

Edited, May 11th 2007 10:31am by Lefian

Potatoe/potatoe. You're still an uninteresting cnut, so much so that the only reason you're even slightly acknowledged is that you are sometimes mistaken for one of the biggest bleeding vags in forum history. Now that's a claim to fame if I've ever heard one.

Oops I didn't know I was posting in the Trying to be famous on an online video game forum. I'm not here to be acknowledged. I guess I can ask again. Does your personal experience lead you to assume that people post here for internet affection?

Mistaken identity and instead of apologizing you have to throw out insults like a 12 year old on Halo. You really hurt my feelings.

Edited, May 11th 2007 10:56am by Lefian

When I was a little one I used to steal drinks from my mom's beer when she fell asleep in front of the TV watching Taxi. As I grew up my taste changed to bourbon and Cokes by the time I got to jr. high. I was a full-blown alcoholic as a teenager, especially once I got my car at 18.

Despite the fact that statistically, children of alcoholics are at greater risk of becoming addicts themselves, my mother's alcoholism is really the #1 reason I emerged from my abused and neglected adolescence with no monkey on my back more frightful than a world-class chocolate addiction. I actually had a therapist once who, in complete earnest, asked me how I managed to survive my upbringing without resorting to substance abuse of some kind.

It helped that I got involved in Alateen at about the age of 14, so I KNEW I was at greater risk, and it served to make me very cautious when dealing with alcohol. At the age of 32, I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually been drunk, and each and every one of those times was planned and executed under very carefully controlled conditions, with at least one sober person around me to keep me from doing anything stupid and to pour me into bed when I'd had enough.

Of course, it didn't hurt that I was a huge geek, as were most of my friends, so we were much more likely to get together for Star Trek marathons than drinking parties.

I probably will let my kids have a little bit of alcohol at home, in the right circumstances. But I also plan to make sure they know very well that they are genetically predisposed toward addiction on both sides of the family (Mr. Ambrya's dad was an alcoholic also) and that they know just how much harm addiction can do to a family and that if they begin abusing alcohol or other drugs, it's not just going to be hurting themselves. If I have to play the "imagine the pain of growing up knowing your mother loved her beer more than she loved her own children" card, I'll do it without a single qualm.