Poll: Should parents be allowed to buy their (18+) kids alcohol in public?

[lechat]

drinking age is 18 in australia but there has been alot of talk lately about raising it to 21 to lower street violence (after clubs) and drink driving

i had my first drink at around age 7 and was drunk for the first time about age 13. by age 15 my mother would buy me alcohol whenever me or my friends had a party
sounds irresponsible i guess but neither me nor my sister are big drinkers, preferring to sometimes have a few drinks on the weekend but mainly only drinking on social occasions
as a comparison i have a friend who wasn't allowed a single drink until he was 18 and then proceeded to get hammered almost every night for the rest of his life (died in a car accident) so i'd be interested to hear other stories of how ppl started drinking and how much they drink now before i'd make a decision

 

[WWmelb]

Australian here. Legal age to drink is 18. Legal age to drive unsupervised. 18. BAD MIX. Anyways. I honestly think that our culture in australia needs a good overhaul when it comes to drinking, and think the legal age being raised for public drinking is a good idea. 18 for home/supervised consumption and 21 for unsupervised consumption. i think it would be a damn good idea.

Our driving education system here needs to be massively changed also. It is woeful at the moment. But that's another thread for another time.

 

[AngloDoom]

Neither does alcohol, in moderation.

If you expect a teenager to even know the definition of that word, my friend, you have never been to America. That goes for parents too, come to think of it. There is a reason we have 24% of the world's criminal population but only 5% of the global population.

Nobody else in the developed world has such a high drinking age, and they seem to get along just fine.

I'm not seeing it.

You're saying both that American teenagers are worse than other teenagers (they don't "even know the definition" of moderation) and that the rest of the developed world is doing poorly because of a law regarding teenagers?

You're going to have to expand on that a tad in future, I imagine.

 

[lapan]

18-year-olds can buy their own alcohol here, and have been able to do so as long as I've been alive. As a result, it seems foreign to see this type of thing just now being introduced in other places -- if only because it's far from what my norm is.

Now, do I agree with it? I dunno. The kids are going to drink anyway, and doing it under parent supervision might be better than not, so sure, I guess.

Same over here. Depending on the potency of the alcohol you are even allowed to purchase it from as low as 16.

 

[Angie7F]

I dont think that the age limit should be lowered, but I think if the adult is concenting, then it is ok for 18 year olds to drink.
My family let my drink since I was young too, and the good thing about it is that it helped me learn my limits.
I think it is stupid if you dont let kids drink, and then the minutes they hit 21 (or 20 or whatever) they start drinking and end up in hopitals or dying from parties simply because they had no prior experience.

 

[SckizoBoy]

You can drive a tonne of metal in public places at 16, but you can't purchase alcohol until 5 years after that? Crazy

Well, when you go drink driving, do you want to be driving first or drunk first?

They have their own take on it, clearly... -_-

OT: Yes, but I think there should be some guidelines for proprietors to consider when its getting excessive (i.e. number of units) though I can see it being very difficult to enforce... *shrug*

Though I'm with most non-Americans, UK here, and it's legal at 18 anyway.

 

[chadachada123]

Neither does alcohol, in moderation.

If you expect a teenager to even know the definition of that word, my friend, you have never been to America. That goes for parents too, come to think of it. There is a reason we have 24% of the world's criminal population but only 5% of the global population.

Nobody else in the developed world has such a high drinking age, and they seem to get along just fine.

I'm not seeing it.

That has less to do with how our citizens act and more to do with the fact that our police/courts imprison everyone for pretty much everything. Most other countries have moved on to rehabilitation services, etc, especially for victimless "crimes" (which make up half of our prison population).

On a slightly-related note, I'll try and scrounge up some of the studies I have that pretty much say that our insane drinking age encourages binge drinking and abuse by teens. Similarly, treating marijuana anywhere NEAR the same level as meth or heroin encourages meth/heroin use once teens realize that DARE was full of shit about marijuana and think that it extends to other drugs as well.

Fun fact: Weed is classed as more dangerous than meth according to the feds, completely disregarding actual fact. Then again, so is shrooms, which itself has massive health benefits for numerous mental disorders (OCD, depression, OCD-related depression). But, again, our goal is to imprison as many people as possible, because it lines the pockets of our congressmen the most.

 

[Hoplon]

There is a reason we have 24% of the world's criminal population but only 5% of the global population.

Stupid over zealous laws on things that shouldn't matter? We have that in the UK too, Something retarded like 60% of the women in prison in the UK are in for not paying their TV licence...

Problems with booze almost seem genetic in northern Europeans, they never seem to be able to leave it alone.

 

[Absimilliard]

I 'm used to a 18-year restriction on everything except hard liquors, so yeah, I don't have a problem with that.

 

[Rack]

Slightly bizarrely high numbers aside I think it's a good idea. If drinking is something that is done in moderation with parents growing up as opposed to this big taboo to be broken in an epic fashion once you hit an arbitrary number it will be less an act of rebellion and just something to be sensibly enjoyed.

 

[BOOM headshot65]

Today, in my beautiful home state of Colorful Colorado, a REPUBLICAN state representative is planning on introducing legislation to allow parents to buy their children alcohol in public places (restaurants and bars) as long as they are 18 or over.

*Me as a Kansan*Oh this is great. JUST great. First you go and legalize weed on us, and now this. I though Brownback was bad with his education cuts[footnote]On the other hand, Kansas is growing fast, and many national level papers and news agencys are saying that due to his super-majority in both chambers and controling all 3 state government areas, it will be a good testing ground for Republican ideals, and are speculating if it works, he may run for president. So far its working........Brownback 2020 perhaps?[/footnote], but you guys are getting crazy on us. I guess I just need to put Colorado on my "Nice to visit, but will not live there" list with most of the rest of the world......wait, you guys legalized weed........Ok, I will put it on my "Avoid like plauge-infested" along with Washington [state] and the Netherlands.

 

[Rawne1980]

I started buying my step daughter alcohol when we went out when she turned 18.

Granted 18 is the legal age to drink in the UK.

But then again, I bet there are more than a few people here that drank underage. At least if the parents buy it they can keep an eye on them.

 

[Milanezi]

Provided that the parent is present at all times while the 18 year old has alcohol in hand, I don't see the harm. This way, should anything go wrong, the parent can step in immediately.

Plus every parent knows their kids (or should), it's all about education.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Haha, I keep forgetting that drinking isn't legal in the States until 21. That's just plain batshit. You can't have a beer on your 18th birthday, or watching a game, or have some wine with a meal...

I think what your lawmakers have probably completely missed is that, in order to stop people doing something, you don't just make it harder for them to do that thing, because they'll find a way to do it anyway. You find out why they want to do that thing and then figure out how to change their attitude.

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

Which do you want answered:
Should parents be able to buy their 18+ children alcohol: yes
Is this a good way of lowering the legal drinking age: not necessarily, I don't see a real connection between the two ideas.

 

[Pickles]

As an Australian I was so very, very confused by the name of the topic until I remembered there are other countries.

While I think 21 seems to be too high a drinking age, this seems like a strange way to affect it. And it being so conditional would make it frustrating to implement I would have thought.

 

[Joccaren]

Legal Drinking age here is 18, so that really wouldn't affect anything here.

Seeing as the legal drinking age is likely older in the US or something like that, its a good move. Legal Drinking Age should be 18 IMO. You're counted as an adult at that point for all other purposes, there's no reason not to let you be an adult and make your own choice in this part of life too.
Now we just need cinemas to keep charging children's prices up until the age of 18 and we're set.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I think an 18 year old should be able to drink anyway, so I'm going to go with yes. Letting a legal adult drink under parental supervision is more than acceptable.