it is possible to require ID for the purchase of alcohol without making carrying an ID mandatory for other situations

this is how it is done in Sweden for instance

(though do not for a moment imagine that it stops Swedish teens from getting at the booze!)

in countries where the carrying of ID in itself is obligatory, it is easy for the police to use this as a way of harrassing certain sectors of the population

i dont have a purse - i don't carry ID, im not old or haggared

i dont understand the teenage reference

although all of mine have been drunk - not wasted and never been to a&E

I AM old (but not haggard) and always insist on being proofed so that I can flash my bus pass!

I fear you may one day find out that it is not quite so easy...my parents would have said the same thing. They were wrong.

I think what trillian is saying is be grateful that shops are tough on ID for alcohol because it means a) you look young and b) it'll be harder for teenagers to buy alcohol. Don't complain because you haven't got any one you and you have been refused.

you have the right to disagree, but that is my opinion and im sticking to it.

Trikken I disagree,I live in what I think many of you would class as a 'rough' area,however my 3 ds are given rules and they stick to these rules.

Ds1 is 15 and in Sept he will be travelling into the moss side area of Manchester to attend college-at 15 he has never drunk or smoked I know where he is and what he is doing at all times,similarly with ds2 who is 13 he needs to tell me where he is at all times and be assured if I think he is misleading me - I will go and get him.

My children do enjoy freedom but it is still an authorised freedom with rules.

I myself do not just go out and get rip roaring drunk my dc know where I am at all times.

oh I'm too old and haggard for anyone to challenge me on that basis.

I wondered why we haggards were being exempted. Thought it might be because young people are more likely to go in for terrorism.

scaryteacher you wont always be able to stop him from going out with people you dont like, he will grow up and need that independance to be able to mke his own choices, (even if they turn out to be bad)and to learn by making his own mistakes. Of course, we will always want to protect our children tho.

You dont have to carry it, but I think its useful to. especially if you want to buy alcohol (no matter what age you are)

Sorry, thought it was obvious: if you intend to purchase alcohol.

(if you don't have your purse then I assume you're not buying anything so don't need ID)

Yes YABU

I don't always even take a purse out with me. What a hassle to have to remember ID as well.

I also don't see how me carrying ID will influence the state of my children's stomachs. Eh?

I would love someone to ask me for ID.

Am obviously old and haggard

SOB

I do carry i.d. and I do not mind producing it when purchasing age-restricted products.

I would go bananas if they refused to let me buy a cheese grater just because I had my eleven year old with me.

I would be very annoyed that someone presumed that I would carry out a criminal act just because I had a child with me.

We are not required by law to carry photo ID in the UK, if 18+, so why should we?

My teenage ds will not be getting wasted because I know where he is and with whom all the time. If I don't like who he wants to go out with, I say no.

... you should carry photo ID in your purse

and be grateful that:

a) you are not old and haggard

and that

b) your teenage DCs are less likely to be getting wasted and having to be taken to A&E to have their stomachs pumped

(this also goes for other teenagers, and your children when they are teenagers)