Teenagers in house - how to secure kegs?

[Fennis]

If I had had to lock up my beer when we were raising kids, I'd have given up one or the other.

Jokes aside, the issue is how the kids are raised, not whether or not the alcohol is locked up.

I completely agree with you, but honestly, my concern wouldn't be my own, it would be their friends. You can raise your kid perfectly and try to guide them towards making good decisions, but all it takes is one determined friend, and they will help themselves to your beer if its not locked up.

 

[landshark]

One of the hardest things to do is be a parent and not a friend to those you value most. The drinking in the home issue is one best left in the home for each individual set of parents to decide.

Legally.......not a good idea.

In Missouri, it is legal for a parent to serve alcohol to their own children/kids. We celebrate a few liberal laws here due to AB pushing the legislature in Jefferson City. So I can't hate on AB too much. Similar to we have no open container law.

 

[buzzkill]

I have two girls,and at some point I will get them **** faced drunk. I want them to know the effects before they go to that fist party. and pass out with a bunch of dumb ass teen boys that I would have to hunt down and shoot. lets face it,telling kids Alcohol is bad while drinking a beer is just going make us look like hypocrites.


I grew up in a house where alcohol was evil. so I ended up getting wasted more than most kids.

and I will have a padlock on my keezer.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I have two girls,and at some point I will get them **** faced drunk. I want them to know the effects before they go to that fist party. and pass out with a bunch of dumb ass teen boys that I would have to hunt down and shoot. lets face it,telling kids Alcohol is bad while drinking a beer is just going make us look like hypocrites.


I grew up in a house where alcohol was evil. so I ended up getting wasted more than most kids.

and I will have a padlock on my keezer.

I have taken a lot of flak for talking about children in the past since I dont have any... but might I suggest that you start now in steering them away from fist parties? I stopped going years ago and I STILL walk funny.

 

[zeg]

lets face it,telling kids Alcohol is bad while drinking a beer is just going make us look like hypocrites.

That's correct, and I would never tell my kids alcohol is bad. It's not.

There are (obviously) many different approaches to helping your kids make the right decisions, but the decisions are theirs. None of these approaches---policing, sharing, lecturing, locking, etc, is a magic bullet. Some kids who have been shielded from alcohol entirely go out and hurt themselves drinking, just like some kids who have been allowed to drink at home regularly do.

You've got to know your own kids and use your own judgement. Indiana is one of the few states that denies parents the rights to do that, but even if I lived in another state, I haven't decided how I'd approach this when the time comes. The one thing I know I'm not going to do is lie to my kids about the dangers or benefits.

It's the same with drugs, sex, etc. I want them to be informed and I want them to know they can trust me. I'll do my best to start them on the right course and give them the tools and information they need to make smart decisions, but the fact is that I won't be there for every choice they have to make.

 

[MR2Aaron]

Normally with beer you can tell if sneaky teens are doing away with them because they disappear from the fridge, but with kegs in a fridge it's not as easy to notice a few missing here or there. We have kids in the house that are fast approaching high school which will inevitably mean a curioisty in alcohol. Other than just lecturing them on the repercussions of drinking, is there a way to keep the suds safe from curious tastebuds? Is there any way to employ a lock or something on a keg fridge? SInce I dont even have a fridge yet I figured I would seek some answers to steer me in the right direction before I go out and buy anything. I may end up with just plain old picnic taps so everything could be contained within the fridge itself. I'm thinking maybe I could bolt on a couple of hasps with a padlock. If anyone has experience with this kind of thing I would love the input.

Lock the fridge and disconnect the tap from the keg inside.

If they have access to the fridge, all they'd have to do is get a party tap and stick it on the keg if they were really curious, even if you did install locks on the tap handles.

Regardless, I think the answer here is to let them have a little of the beer sometimes. Tell them they can't drink it when you're not around, but make it so that drinking it when you are around is not always out of the question.

If you concerned about their friends, you might consider having a barbecue where the parents are invited, and serve the beer there. Offer to let the friends try it if their parents agree, thus dispelling the mystery.

This would have worked on me when I was a teenager, although I was a soda man until I turned 25 or so.