Thread: Kids and Booze

Saw this on the BBC website and it got me thinking.

As TD posters are a good mix of ages and nationalities - what do you think of this and also how were you introduced to booze and how did you introduce your offspring (if any) to booze?

Parents 'should supply alcohol'


Large bottles of cheap cider were associated with drinking in public

Parents could help keep their teenagers away from drink-fuelled violence and sex by giving them a weekly alcohol allowance, a study has suggested.
A third of those polled had experienced violence when drunk and 12.5% reported sexual encounters they regretted.
University researchers questioned nearly 10,000 15 to 16-year-olds in the north-west of England.
They got into trouble more when buying their own cheap alcohol, rather than getting access from parents, it found.
Carefully introducing alcohol to children may help them "prepare themselves for life in an adult environment dominated by this drug", said the study.
'Increase prices'
Study leader Professor Mark Bellis, from Liverpool John Moores University, said the negative impacts of alcohol on children's health were "substantial".
"Those parents who choose to allow children aged 15 to 16 years to drink may limit harm by restricting consumption to lower frequencies - for example, to no more than once a week - and under no circumstances permitting binge drinking.
"However, parental efforts should be matched by genuine legislative and enforcement activity to reduce independent access to alcohol by children and to increase the price of cheap alcohol products."
Despite much of the chronic burden of alcohol-related disease falling on adults, the foundations of such damage are often established in childhood


Study researchers

In similar studies done by the university in 2006 and 2007 researchers concluded that teenagers who drank alcohol with their parents in moderation were less likely to binge drink.
In 2008 their results showed that teenagers were drinking an average of 44 bottles of wine or 177 pints of beer a year each.
This year's survey found that teenagers who relied on obtaining their own supplies of cheap alcohol were much more likely to be involved in violence and other forms of bad behaviour.
As well as those reporting violence and sexual encounters they regretted, some 35.8% of the teenagers had drunk in public places like parks and shopping centres and 45.3% had suffered forgetfulness after drinking.
Researchers said that while no teenage drinking was risk-free, the way teenagers got hold of alcohol made a big difference to the harm caused.
Just under 20% of teens who drank once a week and were supplied with alcohol by their parents had been involved in violence when drunk.
The proportion getting into fights rose to 36% for those drinking as often, after obtaining alcohol by other means.
International threat
A strong link was found between the availability of cheap drinks and alcohol-related violence, "regretted" sex, and drinking in public places.
Large bottles of cheap cider were particularly associated with drinking in public, while relatively expensive alcopop-style drinks were less of a significant problem, said researchers.
Writing in the journal BMC Public Health, they warned that parents who tried to impose alcohol bans might only shift the problem away from the family into the street.
They added: "Our results suggest that such a move, even if overall consumption did not increase, could exacerbate negative outcomes from alcohol consumption among teenagers."
"Despite much of the chronic burden of alcohol-related disease falling on adults, the foundations of such damage are often established in childhood," they added.
In their paper the scientists said alcohol had emerged in recent decades as "one of the major international threats to public health".


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For a kick off !

I got 'blasted' for the first time at the age of 7 when I was living in Devon.
The local lads told me what they were drinking, and gave me some, was "Cydrax" fizzy apple juice - but it was actually full strength local made scrumpy !!
From the age of 9 to about 14 my gran used to slip me a shot of her whisky at family gatherings ( and a ciggie or two - Du Maurier in the red flat box ! )
Left home at 16 and was a beer drinker for 5 years - then went to Whisky and /or Gin.
Still there!
Mind you on the rare occasions that I return to that sceptic/ sceptered isle ( UK)
the first thing I crave is a couple of pints of Banks' Mild and a ploughmans lunch !

My kids?
They both spent their formative years in either Cyprus or Greece and were used to seeing booze readily available at home and from 'rugrat' size always had a glass of whatever wine we were drinking , well diluted with 'sprite', with their dinner.

Now they are both married and settled - don't think booze has caused any problems.

Having said that my son came out here before he was married and did the "Patong" scene .
Came home one night supported by a couple of young ladies - all out of their skulls- and they whisked him off to his room.
Was a very noisy night but the lad enjoyed himself - think the ladies did too !!

I served coffee to 3 wrecks in the morning

growing up a little 'bastard' i started knocking off me old mans grog at about 14, went away 1 weekend with a 'rover' group and got blind on a bottle of beenliegh black rum and some cheap scotch, to this day i don,t touch the stuff, i love beer, but i abstain from drinking when i,m working, but i give it a flogging when i,m not, me missus drinks as much as i do much to my disgust, and my daughter after getting drunk on her 18th has,nt had a drink since 4 years later.. happy happy sober driver when required, to be honest i,m happy she don,t drink or does drugs unlike the fuckwits she hangs around

yes, ned, drink is a demon

Originally Posted by Shitdigit

I'm starting to think there should be a test people must pass before being allowed to inflict their spawn on the rest of society.

good idea

how could you design it?

Originally Posted by DrAndy

good idea

how could you design it?

The parameters would be very draconian.

It's not possible in any sane society.

Originally Posted by Happyman

From the age of 9 to about 14 my gran used to slip me a shot of her whisky at family gatherings ( and a ciggie or two - Du Maurier in the red flat box ! )

Ah, Du Maurier!
We started partying with booze in my early teens. I drank Southern Comfort with lemon -- Janis fan. Went through different phases, but just stick to wine now.
I wouldn't push booze on the kids.

Slightly off topic but my last post stirred up a couple of brain cells !

Think it was in the late 60's when an incumbent Pope died, a new one was elected but he went to meet his boss in a very short time.
Alongside the Combermere Arms was a long brick wall.
During the selection process for the new Pope some joker painted on the wall "Dave Allen for Pope"
( Dave Allen was/is? an Irish comedian with a wonderful pisstaking attitude towards religion)
When the new Pope was installed an unhappy 'Smiley' appeared next to it !!

The new one only lasted a few weeks or so and the selection process restarted .
Almost immediatly , underneath the original graffiti, a new one appeared.

In bigger letters it said 'This time then' and another 'smiley' next to it !!

Was a source of amusement for a week or so until the local catholic church paid for the complete wall to be painted !

Sorry if it is off topic but thought it might amuse .

A tale of insanity in today's Guardian:

Management consultant Jackie Slater thought she was completing a normal shopping trip to Morrisons until the checkout assistant demanded to see her ID before scanning two bottles of wine.


"I told her I was really flattered, but I was the wrong side of 50," she said. But the assistant pointed to her 17-year-old daughter, Emily, and her 18-year-old niece, Annice, who were standing at the end of the checkout chatting.


"She asked: 'Are they with you?' I said they'd come to help me carry the bags back to the car. The assistant said: 'You could be buying the wine for them. It's the policy – I have to see everyone's ID to make sure they are all over 18'."


In vain, Mrs Slater insisted that the wine was for herself and her husband, Peter. But the assistant and then the store manager refused to budge.


Mother is refused wine at Morrisons – in case daughter, 17, drinks it | Society | The Observer

Originally Posted by Happyman

Nah!
Gotta disagree with you there.
M & B was sort of OK but nothing can beat sitting outside the Combermere Arms in Chapel Ash,Wolverhampton,with a pint of Banks'.
Clouds of yeasty steam wafting past from the brewery in Bath Road seasoned with exhaust from the traffic whizzing by on the Tettenhall Road (A41) 10 ft in front of you !!!

Cheers!

Blimey thats dose evoke some memories.
I used to drink in the Great Western in Sun st Horseley fields, great beer back then.
Would sit in the garden on a sunny weekend afternoon watching the girls ply their trade on the street outside next to the low level train station.
We never got any beer of that quality down south you know.