Alchol at home?!


Question:

Alchol at home?

I'm sure I heard on the television the other day that it is legal for a minor to drink at home (alchol) at the age of 5 with parents consent, is this true? It also said that the government is to raise this age limit to 15!!! If so I think it is disgusting no wonder we have so many alcholic teenagers.

Additional Details

2 months ago
My parents would give me and my sister a glass of wine with lemonade for special occasions, can't remember how old we were though. I was more asking if this law is correct in the sense of the age restrictions, as I was shocked to hear that on T.V.


Answers:
2 months ago
My parents would give me and my sister a glass of wine with lemonade for special occasions, can't remember how old we were though. I was more asking if this law is correct in the sense of the age restrictions, as I was shocked to hear that on T.V.

I doubt that many parents are actively getting 5 year olds to drink alcohol. I think that teenage drinking has similar roots to teenage smoking, as in peer pressure.

Raising this age limit will make all the right noises and achieve absolutely nothing. Does this sound familiar for government policy??

Probably an old law that needed re-addressing, I'm sure if an adult was found guilty of letting a 5 year old drink in any form this would be considered abuse.

Yes I think that is true. Although from the age of about 12 or 13 I was allowed small qunatities of alcohol such as beer and I think this has helped me as it taught me how to drink sensibly. I think often the kids with the problems are the ones who have never had alcohol so go and get smahed on cider down the park !

Oh please, how many parents do you know give their kids alcohol at 5. It's knee-jerk reactors like this that cause stupid, pointless laws being introduced.

It's not illeagal for children to have alcohol at home with their parents. You only need to look at European countries like France and Holland where kids are allowed a glass of wine with their dinner and compare that to their teenage alcohol abuse. We have a massive problem in the UK and it's because kid's don't respect drink. Parent's teaching their kid's how to respect it and taking away the mystery and the attitude of "doing something bad behind your parent's back" can only help not hinder the problem.

What we need to stop is the adult's that buy drink for kid's in the street and the shopkeeper's who don't ID.

I think that it is disgusting that we vote for these stupid lawmakers in the first place.

how dumb can we be if we start allowing 5 yr olds to start drinking and then say its OK for them to get drunk.

making alcohol a taboo subject at home is wrong. Children should understand the dangers of alcohol and learn from there parents about drinking responsibly. Rather that than hanging about street corners with cans of cider. My children 13,7 & 7 have all tried beer, wine in small quantities and in controlled environments. Not very often I hasten to add. Usually on special occasions. They do this in France from an even earlier age. I am not a big drinker maybe 1 can of beer a week on average

My parents ALWAYS let me taste what ever was in their glass. Kids hate the taste of alcohol anyway so it wasn't a problem for us. From the age of 5 onwards I was given a drop of wine diluted with water with a meal when my parents had wine and very weak shandy when we had parties or barbecues. I rarely finished my cupful. It wasn't a big deal in my house or within our circle of friends. as an adult I don't drink a great deal and I have been drunk only a handful of times.
Taking a Mediterranean family approach to alcohol and encouraging children to see alcohol as a sociable meal accompaniment is a great idea, and I will do the same thing with my own children - regardless of the what the government decides.

Its just an old law , like others have said who on earth would give their 5 year old alcohol !?
My children have a glass of wine with lemonade at Christmas ,new years and Easter ... I don't think that banning it would make a difference to be honest ... its not the 5 year olds buying it in the shops and getting drunk !!

I had my first alchoholic drink at about 8 it was a Chianti. I have off-licensing qualifications, I dont binge drink and I drink maybe 3-4 times a week (a glass of wine with a meal or a single lager). I think it all comes down to responsible parenting, I had the dangers explained to me when I was young and although I was "allowed" to drink it was only in a very small amount and only very rarely. I think because I had experience with alchohol at an early age in a responsible enviroment I did not find it thrilling and get carried away during my teens.

At the end of the day letting your kids drink freely is bad, teaching them about it is good. Take france for example they have much easier going rules on youths drinking, whilst they may drink more generally than us in the UK they have far less alchoholics and binge drinkers.

bollocks
the reason we have so many alcoholic teenagers is the people who buy it for them in the streets.
The more you make it look adult for kids to do something the more they will want to prove how grown up they are and putting an age limit on it at home will not help
my kids often had a glass of wine with their meals and are all now grown up and have a responsible attitude to drink

Yes, the law says that under 5yrs they may not be given alcohol except for medicinal purposes or on doctors orders. Over 5yrs then there is no legal restriction and you are then governed by rules of common sense, the legal duty of care we owe as parents, grand parents. etc. That is to act sensibly as regards the strength, the amount etc.
The legal definition of alcohol is a product with an alcohol by volume ABV exceeding 0.5% alcohol. That is why the shandy products you buy from a news agent are legally sold to anybody, the alcohol content if you read the ingredients is less than 0.5%.
The suggestion about raising the legal age to 15 yrs came from a pressure group but the Govt. reply was that they had no intention of altering the law.

I was raised Italian, We were allowed to drink a little wine with dinner but i was older like 10 when this started. I believe that introducing a little alchohol while children grow up creates a controlled atmosphere for them. I barely ever drink anymore now that i am 24 and i dont care. Giving the older kids a little alchohol is not wrong. keeping it away naturally makes it something they want to try.
As parents we should raise our children correctly and teaching them and showing them the responsible way to drink is a part of that.

Okay
I live in America and the age limit is 21 which I think its STUPID. That's the reason we have so many problems with alcohol here. When my fiance and I have kids we decided to let them have wine with their meals or beer to get them used to having a drink so their not likely to go out and get wasted.
My parents always let me have a drink when they were before I was 21 and yes I have been drunk in my college days but now I know how to control myself.

Dont be ridiculous. My sisters and I were allowed a glass of wine with Sunday dinner from young ages and we have all grown up to be decent responsible hard working people. Not blithering alcoholics.
Having a drink with your parents teaches enjoyment and appreciation of alcohol in a controlled environment, not abuse. If you are introduced to it at an early age and taught that it is an enjoyable accompanyment to a meal, you are less likely to go mad with the stuff and end up in trouble with it in your teenage years because by then alcohol is old news. Teenagers are becoming alcoholics because they are experimenting with alcohol in an uncontrolled environment for example the ones I see down the local payground or hanging round outside shops with a 2 litre bottle of cheap cider, not safe with their parents around the dinner table.

should never give a 5 or a 15 year old booze it will rot there developing brains and internal organs. I'm sure the government knows this and i am sure there is no law making it legal to serve minors even in your home. i know this as i have had a few parties in my day where the parents were serving booze to the teens and we got into one heap of trouble the parents of the teens almost ended up in jail and the teens taken away

i also think it is disgusting to raise the limit to 15 another example of this stalinist control government. i had my first bourbon at the age of 8, i have drunk regularly from the age of 14, have run my own business, own my own home and am now semi retired.




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