• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Do your under age kids drink w/you at home?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C-Rider said:
Do your under age kids drink w/you at home?

Nope. But only because its illegal. In some states, it is legal for an underage child to drink under the supervision of parent or guardian, but not here.

Was blessed with the chance to take my 18 yr old with me on a business trip to Germany a few months ago and we made the most of it. The trip culminated with a liter of festbier in the Schwaben Bräu beer tent at the Folksfest in Bad Canstadt near Stuttgart. Perfect!

Something we are very careful about (with three teenage boys in a house with a minimum of 20 gallons of beer in it at any given time) is no drinking and driving. Zero. Not even one beer.
 
My dad let me have a sip of beer when I was maybe 7 or so. I hated the taste and didn't touch beer again until I was 15. Still didn't really drink beer until I acquired the taste in my 20s.
 
Oh, my, this thread has gone on a long, long time. I think it's a commentary on our times that so much is argued between the letter and the spirit of the laws. This question is clearly discretionary on the part of the parent.

OTOH, we were afforded the occasional sip from Dad's beer when growing up, so I come from that sort of background.

The best comment here is probably about the laws themselves, from one of those old dead guys:


The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because
they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they
have no other, and it well answers their purpose. They are often
made by fools; still oftener by men who, out of hatred to equality,
fail in equity; but always by men, vain and irresolute authors.

- Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
 
Choosing not to obey a law that you think is wrong is not the same as thinking you're above the law---that means thinking you should be able to break the law without risk of punishment.
 
my boys are 5 & 2, so no. my 5 y/o got a hold of my Bourbon Imp Stout when he was about 3 & spit what little taste he had all over the floor. he stays clear of all my beers since then. hahaha!
 
Billy-Klubb said:
my boys are 5 & 2, so no. my 5 y/o got a hold of my Bourbon Imp Stout when he was about 3 & spit what little taste he had all over the floor. he stays clear of all my beers since then. hahaha!

Haha. If it was me I that stout would have been gone in an instant. Don't worry he'll eventually like beers!
 
For the record, since I didn't comment on my thoughts about giving beer to ones children, I don't have kids so it's in some regards it a bit remiss for me to comment.

Growing up I occasionally got a drink or two from dad's or uncle's beer, but they never gave me enough to get tipsy/drunk, nor did they ever facilitate me or my brothers getting tipsy/drunk at home. I'm of that same mindset. A drink here and there see what the flavor is or whatever, no biggie, give my kids enough alcohol to get tipsy/drunk? Nah...don't think so.
 
Its kind of funny that you can see where people grew up reflected in there ideaology.
I grew up rural and still am rural. I do believe that if you dont agree with a law, then dont go along with it. However if your caught, face the consequences dont be a sissy. The same is bred into people that were either raised or have family from very rural areas. We do as we please and believe is right, not what big brother says we can or cant [we also call you city folk yuppies, its our little secret]. We have our own moral compass and usually settle disputes with some punches thrown and ice packs and beer all around afterward.

AS for letting my children drink, well they are 3 so hell no, but I will reconsider as they get older, my state atleast for now offers me that right.
 
I have two daughters (19,12), the 19 year old is allowed to have wine, beer or hard lemonade/wine cooler if she asks...no going out afterwards, never excess. The 12 year old can have a taste of whatever the rest if us are having.

I find it interesting that the american culture has criminalized whats basically food. The government has dictated that I as a parent can't teach my girls how to use alcohol responsibly, but I can go to a store and buy them every piece of crap junk food and feed them until their over weight, full of tooth decay and other health problems and that is perfectly ok. Of corse at 18 they can buy cigarettes and slowly kill themselves...again that's fine.

Does there need to be limits...of course. But when? When a person can drive, vote, get married, fight and die for their country (16 or 18), those are very adult things to do...or should it be 21 why not 25 or 30. Maybe alcohol should be done away with again because I can't make responsible decisions in life. The "21" age is a bad law, if they want "21" then make everything "21"

Ok I'm getting off the soap box now.
 
My oldest son is six and I often ask him if he want a sip of my beer. He always politely declines. I want to teach him that beer ( like wine and whiskey and all else) is a labor of love for someone and that each sip should be enjoyed and appreciated - not had for the sake of drunkenness. Feeling "high" is a chemical reaction of the body that youngsters ( ok, and oldsters) can't control and if he has the sense to understand that early, then I have no problem letting him taste alcohol before he's 21. Certainly the government does not know what's best for my family better than I.
 
Give my kid beer? Not a chance. That kind of welfare-state dependence is crippling this generation.

Personal responsibility starts in the home. If my son wants beer, or food, or diapers, he'll get a job...not ask for hand-outs. My sister's kid has been completely ruined by this mindset. He expects to be fed, cleaned, and played with nearly every day.
 
Give my kid beer? Not a chance. That kind of welfare-state dependence is crippling this generation.

Personal responsibility starts in the home. If my son wants beer, or food, or diapers, he'll get a job...not ask for hand-outs. My sister's kid has been completely ruined by this mindset. He expects to be fed, cleaned, and played with nearly every day.

I hear ya! our 5 y/o had it easy for the first 6 months. after that, he got a job in the coal mines. MSHA started pitching a fit, so he became a pipe welder. and the 2 y/o was born with a stinger in one hand & a mash paddle in the other.
 
I think this is obviously a touchy subject with varying opinions. The way I feel as a parent is kids shouldn't just be given alcohol, but they shouldn't be shielded from its existence either. At a very young age I took a sip from my moms drink thinking it was coke, well I spit it out faster than I could take the sip. I also never liked the taste of beer until I was in my 20s. When my daughter reaches high school I will teach her to drink responsibly and how to control herself because I'm not always going to be there to make the right choices for her. I think the important lesson to teach is just that. Teach them how to be responsible about it and not be the kid at the party that's blacked out and throwing up on themselves because they chugged a half a bottle of straight liquor or let themselves be taken advantage of by making poor choices. Too many kids think its a contest about who can drink the most instead of enjoying themselves while maintaining their self respect. People fall victim to their own stupidity, so I do my best to give her the knowledge needed to know better instead of learning the hard way.
 
I find it interesting that the american culture has criminalized whats basically food. The government has dictated that I as a parent can't teach my girls how to use alcohol responsibly, but I can go to a store and buy them every piece of crap junk food and feed them until their over weight, full of tooth decay and other health problems and that is perfectly ok. Of corse at 18 they can buy cigarettes and slowly kill themselves...again that's fine.

I wonder how many innocent bystanders have been killed by an overweight person or a smoker behind the wheel vs. a drunk person behind the wheel?

The key is responsibly. Regardless how irresponsible you are with eating and smoking, the risk of hurting someone else is pretty low. If you are irresponsible with alcohol the risk to others is much greater and perhaps that plays into some of the differences in regulations/laws.

There are tons of laws we could do without if everyone was on their best behavior all the time, but they aren't.
 
I wonder how many innocent bystanders have been killed by an overweight person or a smoker behind the wheel vs. a drunk person behind the wheel?

The key is responsibly. Regardless how irresponsible you are with eating and smoking, the risk of hurting someone else is pretty low. If you are irresponsible with alcohol the risk to others is much greater and perhaps that plays into some of the differences in regulations/laws.

There are tons of laws we could do without if everyone was on their best behavior all the time, but they aren't.

A portion of my taxes go to paying a disability check, hospital care or other related expenses due to issues stemming from obesity or smoking. So it does have a direct effect on me and my family and none of us should be forced to pay a single penny to maintain or repair anothers lifestyle decisions.
 
A portion of my taxes go to paying a disability check, hospital care or other related expenses due to issues stemming from obesity or smoking. So it does have a direct effect on me and my family and none of us should be forced to pay a single penny to maintain or repair anothers lifestyle decisions.

We all pay for stuff we don't think we should have to support but that's a red herring to the point.
 
You've taken it out of context. Go back and read what started that point and you'll hopefully understand where it came from.
 
I don't feel I took it out of context. if anything, I was reiterating the point of responsibility of an individual and pushing the point of a parents responsibility of teaching respect for alcohol to the child.
 
whoaru99 said:
I wonder how many innocent bystanders have been killed by an overweight person or a smoker behind the wheel vs. a drunk person behind the wheel?

The key is responsibly. Regardless how irresponsible you are with eating and smoking, the risk of hurting someone else is pretty low. If you are irresponsible with alcohol the risk to others is much greater and perhaps that plays into some of the differences in regulations/laws.

There are tons of laws we could do without if everyone was on their best behavior all the time, but they aren't.


I would call overweight children learning bad eating habits from their parents innocent bystanders...same for kids getting secondhand smoke or picking up the habit innocent bystanders also. More people dies of heart disease and smoking related problems than are killed by drunk drivers (personally I feel there should be 0 tolerance for OWI). Very few people under 21 are picked up for drunk driving, at least in my area, it's more like the 40 year old coming home for bowling. I wonder if it's because their parents teach them about alcohol use?
 
While some good points, none in dispute, again though, I think they're deflections away from the original point.
 
We all pay for stuff we don't think we should have to support but that's a red herring to the point.

It isn't a red herring at all because any time we have to pay even a penny more in taxes to cover anothers self inflicted health issues such as this it is directly affecting us all. Social issues are not something the fed giv should be involved with and therefore become either a states rights issue or an individual issue.

Just because some fatty can't put down the bacon does not give them the right to take money from taxpayers to continue this lifestyle choice nor is it the .govs responsibility to provide any assistance in the matter. The same as it is not the states job to get involved with how I teach my children about responsible alcohol consumption and handling or the handling of firearms etc. It is the parents duty to handle those decisions and anyone who says otherwise is a fool who walks a very slippery slope.
 
Let me get this straight.... You don't think anyone should be involved in how you raise your kids or the decisions you make, yet you should decide how someone else should behave, i.e. not putting down the bacon. Seems like a bit of hypocrisy to me.
 
Let me get this straight.... You don't think anyone should be involved in how you raise your kids or the decisions you make, yet you should decide how someone else should behave, i.e. not putting down the bacon. Seems like a bit of hypocrisy to me.

Not what I said at all.

The gist of it is go ahead and eat all the bacon you want and be as fat as you want, but the second you infringe on my liberties through such actions is where my give a crap ends. Same goes for all areas of life and anything that uneccesarily impacts others.

It isn't hypocrisy at all as I hold myself to this standard and teach it to my children as well.
 
Back
Top