Teaching your kids about drinking...

[Sol-Blackguy]

Alcoholism and drug abuse runs in my family so I know I'll have to really educate them on drinking beforehand. I'll probably take them to go see my great-cousin (the town drunk) and let him tell them all his horror stories. I don't want to scare them but just show them the risks so they know.
On the topic of drugs, they can go see my 2nd cousin (crackhead) and she can tell her tale of woe to really scare them. Marijuana isn't a major concern since it's something a lot of people just grow out of but I don't want my kids exposed to everything above and think it's safe.

[Hemorabe]

Well my growing up I had a pretty well rounded house to be able to get a grasp on what drinking does. My step-father was a raging alcoholic and my mom was a real drinker from back in her college days from what she said but now hardly consumes 2 wine coolers without getting shitted.

That said my mother would purchase me alcohol(some of you may think this as irresponsible but I don't). What this allowed me to do, as some said is "demystify" alcohol. I would always be in a safe environment when consuming liquor either with my parents or other adults. What this did was basically make it a comfort zone for me to experiment and basically get the hype of drinking out of my system. It created a temperament that when I turned 21 and was legally the age to purchase alcohol I was extremely responsible; in that one of the first things I thought of when partying, was how I'm getting home or where I'm going to sleep, where my friends are going to sleep or who is driving them home. And in the cases where I didn't feel it safe to get drunk I wouldn't.... because this... is the key.... I KNEW MY LIMIT because I had been drunk previously at a younger age so the minute I turned 21 I didn't go out get plastered and get a DUI or kill someone.

Hell my mother even told me that if I ever was at a house party or a bar and nobody could drive that I could call her any time and she would give me AND my friends a ride home. I couldn't tell you how reassuring this was as a partying college kid at the time having a fall out just in case... Never used it but it was reassuring none-the-less.

So in closing I view the topic of parents teaching children about drinking a very...very.... delicate process. It depends on the child as well as the parent. If the child/young adult is rebellious/disrespectful then it is definitely a bad idea because this would just probably allow them to make a regular habit about it. On the other hand if the child/young adult is responsible and respectful of their parents in that they value their opinion and experience of the topic then I don't see a problem with allowing them to experiment with liquor for previously stated reasons.

Also as Soul said; telling children horror stories not over dramatized, or movie horror stories is a good idea. My mother told me of some of her horror stories of her waking up with her car in the front yard and not knowing how she got home. Also of her high school friend being in an accident and losing a limb(actually showing me pictures of her at graduation with previously stated missing leg). This put the repercussions of drinking into perspective and created a mental image of the seriousness of drinking.

As for my children... We'll have to wait and see until they are of the curious age and begin questioning and that is when I'll have to make up my mind which course to take.

[Azalee]

If I ever have kids, which I honestly don't plan on doing, I would want them to have the same sort of understanding that I did.

Alcohol is not that big of a deal.

When I go to my aunt's house we would have champagne with little strawberries in it, another time we had spider bites, and most recently it was jello shots. She always told me, do it early in the night, and if you do it late then you are staying over.

I also have a close relationship with my mother, and I feel very comfortable knowing that if I was ever in a bad situation she would come rescue me. My mom doesn't think alcohol is a big deal either. As long as you are mature enough to handle yourself and learn when it is okay to stay or go, then you will be fine.

I guess my biggest point is that people need to be educated.

[Kohan]

This thread actually makes me feel good about this community, and the people who already are parents or will be in the future. Most of you are willing to honestly introduce your kids to things like alcohol properly, and carefully. You deserve to be parents, and I hope your children recognize their good fortune.

The rest of you? Stop fucking, don't make babies, we have enough shitty kids already.

[Shuvo]

What I did with my cousins was let them drink some really strong foul-tasting wine. One sip and they never asked me again.

Bad idea to let them have something tasty or they might be curious to drink more.

[Melena]

My brother, when he was really young (like 3-4 years old) would manage to get sips of beer from my grandfather. Grandfather would ask him to bring him a bottle of beer from the fridge, my brother would grab the beer and his sippy cup. go figure.

[Boyiee]

Explaining the concept of social drinking before they hit 21 will take the "OMFG I CAN
DRINK!" attitude out of their system when they become of age.

I know of multiple people who allowed their children to partake in a little whine on holidays/special occasion with dinner at home. It's not a huge deal to me.

My parents would let me have a beer, or some whine or whatever now and then to show me what all the fuss was about.

When I turned 21 I didn't care too much that the big day came, nor do I drink very often... maybe once a month?

[Octavious]

I don't know if it's worth anything, but I'm from a large Italian family and I've been raised on wine at every meal. If you're raised to treat it as a privilege rather than something that just hits you when your 21, it takes a lot of the stupid out of it. You'll always have the stupid idiots but you can do your best by teaching responsible drinking if anything. It's just like I know many 18yr old who drink more responsibly than some of my friends that are in their mid 20's. It's all about the individual and less the age I would say. :O

[0ni0n]

My parents would let me have a beer, or some whine or whatever now and then to show me what all the fuss was about.

When I turned 21 I didn't care too much that the big day came, nor do I drink very often... maybe once a month?

Same here, i drank more heavily before 21 than after. I think the thought of breaking the law or of doing something I wasn't supposed to was the real temptation rather than the alcohol itself.

[Kiro]

My Mom was an alcoholic so I was scared of the stuff, then I grew up and went, "whoamg I'm not my Mom!"

And now I go on week long binges. It's fun.

[Draggy]

Will pretty much say what has been said already-
Do the same as my parents did- as teenagers we would be offered a small glass of wine with family meals if they had wine out for some occasion. They would have a couple beers/ glass of wine on friday night sometimes and if we showed interest we were allowed to have a try - but to be honest at that age it all tasted pretty disgusting.

Then again, it's different here with out drinking laws:
*If you're in a restaurant you can have a glass with a meal at the age of 14.
*At 16 you can drink shandy in pubs. Beer/Cider/Wine with a meal but no spirits
* At 18 you can start buying alcohol legally.

[Howard Roark]

prohibition era
abstinence
honor killings
???
profit

[minsk]

I can only talk from.. a small amount experience here, being that... I'm a kid not an adult (17) but I gotta say that as long as you don't make a big deal out of it, they won't see it as a big deal either. But generally by the time kids are curious about alcohol, their friends will have a much bigger impact on these things than the parents. My mom generally disliked the idea of me and my brother drinking, and my dad didn't really care, I drank with him quite a few time when I was around 14-15, mostly on special occasion though. The only reason I really never got into getting drunk all the time was because of the friends I've been around, only a few of them drink. My brother, on the other hand, all of his friends drink, and because of it (and also his stupidity/depression? maybe) he's gotten 2 DUIs, and broke his back on his first DUI at age 17. He got his 2nd one about 9? months ago. Only now hes finally calming down about the whole thing. After he got his first DUI my mom went on lockdown on me, because she figured I'd go down the same path, but she's also completely eased up on it, doesn't care if i drink anymore, but thats only because she trusts that I'm not gonna go out and get shitfaced and then drive around or do anything of the sort.

So all I gotta say from a kids perspective is just be casual about it, let them know that it's not a big deal but still make it clear that it doesn't mean you don't want them going around getting drunk all the time or doing anything really irresponsible. I like the idea of the whole, if you're gonna drink do it in the house deal that some parents go by, but again I wouldn't let them take advantage of that. You just gotta watch out for the crowd they're around because all in all, they'll probably have a greater impact on your kids disposition towards drinking than you will.