At what age should kids be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages?

1. 88

   Pamela N Redposted 13 years ago

   At what age should kids be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages?
   
   I've always felt the age of enlistment should be the same as drinking age. They can fight for our country at age 18 but not drink a beer until they are 21. Doesn't make sense to me.

   replyreport
2. 0

   buddhaanalysisposted 13 years ago

   actually it should be banned by family members at thier personal level.

   replyreport
3. 83

   Gordon Hamiltonposted 13 years ago

   I've seen so many variations of this age limit in different countries, it's quite incredible.
   
   In the UK, the age is 18. When I was 11, I went on a school trip to Belgium for 10 days, where a group of us boys found out (only on the last night) that the legal age for buying alcohol was 12. Boy - was I ill on that trip home!
   
   In some countries (definitely Germany and I think France as well) there is no set age limit but appropriate guidance is expected of parents. I've so often found it interesting in Germany that youth alcohol abuse is so much lower because it doesn't have the same "forbidden fruit" appeal that it has in America, Britain and other countries. Children are given perhaps wine at meals and taught to respect alcohol and its positives and negatives from an early age.
   
   Sadly, the way that the system is set up in both the USA and the UK, I can't see how either of our countries could easily adapt but no doubt the issue will continue to be debated indefinitely.
   
   Great question and I hope you get the almost impossible answer!

   replyreport
4. 61

   duffsmomposted 13 years ago

   That disparity doesn't make sense to me either but I would be more inclined to change the draft or enlistment age then the drinking age.  I watched alcohol ruin my parents lives and they were adults - so I would hope my kids would never drink.  But at the very least hope it was at legal drinking age of 21.

   replyreport
5. 60

   fpherj48posted 13 years ago

   it doesn't make SENSE to me that alcohol should be an issue to anyone, ever.  The words "allow" and "drinking" don't belong in the same sentence.  Besides, in my 6 decades of life, I've never seen it MATTER to any teen whether adults allow or approve......period.
     The word, "Discourage," comes to mind....but unfortunately we ALL learn our own lessons.  More often than not,  THE VERY HARD WAY.
   Every single young person should be exposed to the stark realities of all the dangers, injuries, illnesses, deaths and heartache, stemming directly or indirectly from the use and abuse of all mind-altering drugs......which surely includes alcohol.
   If I were given my life to live over again......I'd never place a single drop of alcohol near my lips....NOR would I closely associate with anyone who did.  No, I was never an alcoholic, I did not even get close to being at risk.....but NOTHING I ever did, said or thought, when imbibing, resulted in a single positive outcome.  How STUPID do we choose to be?   Married to an alcoholic for 11 years, by the way, is the worst friggan nightmare of one's life.   Just ASK anyone who was.  OR is.
   The smartest thing for any one to do also....is to sit and talk to a recovering alcoholic.  They KNOW.......what they wish they'd have never had to learn.

   replyreport
6. 71

   Ciel Clarkposted 13 years ago

   I lived with a family in France when I was in high school, and the kids were offered tastes of wine occasionally with dinner.  No kids in that French high school partied with alcohol even though they could legally buy it at any age, because it wasn't a big deal, and wine was considered something you only drank with a meal, not to get drunk.  This is very different from how the students acted in my American high school!

   replyreport