i have long believed the drinking age should be lowered and children should learn how to drink responsibly just like they should learn to drive responsibly (not together :o). i learned to enjoy beer fishing with the old man and such. not by watching them get hammered so that i could go get hammered
And my biggest concern was what those kids might have done to your glass while they were out of sight…
I don’t really believe the drinking age should be lowered but I do believe the driving age should be raised.
Wow…didn’t know I was going to generate such debate. That’s good.
My parents were not heavy drinkers and their attitude towards alcohol was very open. If I was 15 and wanted a beer, I could have had one without any problems. Thing is, I didn’t want one because there was nothing secret or taboo or exciting about it. That’s the way my father was raised, the way I was raised and the way my kids will be raised. I think the big problems come when young people are “turned loose” for the first time at a party or at college and abuse alcohol because its been forbidden and they can’t handle the freedom.
Plus, I’m pretty sure my kids will see beer as a craft beverage to be savoured and enjoyed on its own merits and not a means to an end like some kids. I didn’t drink at all in high school because as I said, I didn’t see the big deal but when I did start drinking beer in college, it was craft beer or micro-brewery beer because I liked the beer, not the buzz.
Not to get into a political debate but the US attitude towards drinking age has always confused me a bit. Here you can legally drink at 19 (18 in some provinces). I never understood how someone can be asked to vote or go off and die for their country but they aren’t considered old enough to have a beer.
There’s part of me that thinks they should raise the enlistment age as well.
I’m with GMac on this - but then I live in France and kids can drink with their parents starting at like 10. In restaurants. And nobody cares.
But then there’s a big portion of the US population that would automatically assume that this means I’m letting my kids get wasted in public… But these same people have no problem giving their kids tons and tons of processed sugar every day.
This never made a bit of sense to me either. If you are given license to kill, as in the army, you are old enough to drink alcohol.
Because alcohol is evil and leads to the moral deterioration of society?
FWIW, you’re also old enough to vote before you’re old enough to drink. It’s an odd standard.
Unfortunately, the attitude toward drinking is similar to the attitude towards sex education in large parts of the States. Simply ignore it and pretend that kids won’t learn about it. But perhaps this is trending too much towards a political discussion.
I agree with everyone here who says there’s no harm in teaching kids early about alcohol and how to handle it responsibly. The greater harm is ignorance.
And it was a happy day when my eldest was able to fetch me a Guinness from a cooler at a picnic. Plus, it teaches object recognition!
Adding my two cents. The physical act of getting you a beer will not turn your child into an alcoholic later in life. Watching you have a drink or abusing alcohol will not turn them into alcoholics. Their abuse of alcohol will. You actually have to drink to become an alcoholic. It is their choice to drink, and their abuse of drinking that could cause problems.
I think the original post is meant as a tribute to how nice it is to have your children do something nice for you, especially when they do it on their own.
fwiw the age to drink beer was 18 when i was 18.
I sometimes send my kids on a “secret mission”. The mission to get me a beer without their mom seeing them. It doesn’t really matter if she sees of course, just something to do for laughs. Recently, my daughter (almost 12) has grown tired of the game and sometimes tells me to get it myself. My son still goes on secret missions once a week or so.
Life is what you make of it, I think hiding something from your children keeps things a mystery. And sooner or later they will discover it themselves anyway. (be it alcohol, sex, drugs, whatever… ). I would rather be honest with them, educate them and teach them to make good choices and be responsible than try to hide things from them. I view raising my children as my job is to give them tools necessary to survive in life. Those tools include being able to make good choices, and to do that they need to learn and have self confidence. That’s not achieved by trying to hide things from them.
Well Said!
+1
You’re dating yourself, Don.
Especially if you didn’t have to drive to Wisconsin to drink at 18.
And aren’t you a doctor? Clearly drinking at 18 screwed up your life…
Drinking is mandatory for squids. 
I can tell you that is it legal in my state to order an alcoholic drink to my child in the public.
It is up to me to do so or not to do so.
My 9 year old and I are right now splitting a bottle of Mad Dog and smoking a pack of Lucky Strikes. Ya gotta bond with 'em sometimes.
Lucky kid. ;D