My dd popped to the pub this afternoon.

[Ponchodreams]

My dd has been at her friend's this afternoon. When she got home she informed me that they'd both popped in the local pub for a drink and a packet of crisps. Now I'm sure this was a lovely afternoon for them both and I don't suspect them of any dodgy behaviour, but they are only 12😨!! I am slightly bemused by this as it's ridiculous, but would you say anything to the pub???

We used to go to the pub from school.at lunchtime from being about 14, our school didn't have uniform so we got away with it, some of the teachers went in & there was an unspoken rule, they hadn't seen us & we hadn't seen them.

So that alone means they won't be doing that again!!

Least she told you

sounds innocent

I wouldn’t report the pub

I was never going to report the pub 😊.

After reading this thread I'm now wondering whether to say it is ok for them to pop in from time to time. We are very rural and there's hardly anywhere to go. They did ask for a menu but the kitchen had closed 😀.

I'd let them. But id probably pre warn then that there is the potential for the staff to end up saying they can't be in there without an adult. But it's not an issue they can just say oh sorry didn't realise and off they pop 😅

I used to live in a tiny rural village, if we still lived there now I've no doubt my dd would pop in on her way home from school and sit with her grandad for a bit 😅

I don’t think my teen child would know this, as a family the only time we would be generally visit a pub is as a restaurant to eat, me & DH rarely go out drinking. If we go out alone, it would still be to a restaurant, not drinking. This post as made me realise that she probably genuinely wouldn’t know it’s not appropriate.

In fact, at the holiday park we stayed at over New Year last year, her & her friend went off for a few hours and when they come back they said they had been in the bar and got a drink and toastie, when they tried a few days later they were told they needed an adult. Never really crossed my mind that they shouldn’t have done that at the time.

I was just thinking now that I started drinking alcohol at 13/14 mainly on the streets. My parents would then start to buy me the odd half a shandy. I would absolutely not want that for my children at all. We've only let them drink coke in the last few years 😂.

Us Northerners do have pubs which serve food and allow kids in you know. We are all living in unevolved bastions of hard core drinkers pubs. We are quite civilised. 😁

This made me laugh! The idea of a pair of 12-year-olds taking themselves off to the pub! 😂 OP, watch your car keys or she'll be driving next!

That's crazy!

My kids know pubs as somewhere you go out for a meal (not sure they've eaten out in a restaurant - deffo more pubs than McDonald's) or it's the place you stop for hot chocolate or ice cream after a long walk.

It seems a perfectly reasonable thing to do!

Some pearl clutching going on this thread. Seriously drug dealing and dodgy people aren’t lurking in pubs waiting to pounce on 12 year olds to sit with their orange juice.

I work with young people they are at more risk on their phones and laptops with social media and online games than a busy pub with cctv drinking a soft drink in a corner. They are probably at risk in a quiet park but no one would think it’s wrong for them to be walking through one.

I regularly meet children of this age that are doing a lot worse and are exposed to very vulnerable situations.

No harm was done. It’s not a parenting failure it’s children exploring their freedom. It’s no wonder we have such an anxious generation sat at home online where parents think they are ‘safe’.

two cokes and two packet of crisps in my local would be £10

😲

Thats not expensive, £3.50 for the coke and £1.50 for the crisps

A medium glass of wine s £7 and most larger and real ale around £6 a pint

3.50 seems quite dear for Coke, unless it's a pint.

Where the fuck do you live?!?!

I live in an expensive area but a coffee is around £4, a bag of crisps £2 and half a lager maximum £3....

I work behind the bar of a pub, My 10 year old DGS is very switched on as to how a pub works, he knows how to order a drink, knows that you wear the town football shirt when football is on 😂knows that fruit machines are out of bounds and that beer is 'disgusting' .

I also know that most of the other pubs in town know who he belongs to, so trying on and ordering booze before he is 18 will back fire badly 😂

Op, your girls are hilarious and safer in a rural pub than wandering the streets.

I actually laughed at the thought of two 12 year olds sat in the corner of the pub having a gossip over their cokes and crisps 😂

All those saying to report the pub, get a fucking grip.

😂 bless them!
my DD likes to meet her friends in Costa before school for a cup of tea and bacon sandwich sometimes…!

What I did at 15 I def don’t want mini blondes to do 🙀🙀🙀

It is about protecting the pub, Licensing laws tightened up immensely in the 2003 and one of their licensing conditions (it can depend on the restaurant element) may well be not unaccompanied under 16s and there are Licensing Officers who check.

Regarding "A 12 year old will know that pubs are adult spaces where kids are sometimes allowed". I think that very much depends on the pub - our village pub is no different from a cafe or restaurant in this regard, kids are very much welcome and are always in there (the pub wouldn't be able to survive if it otherwise) so I don't think it would occur to any kids in the village that the pub is a special adult space.

This is incorrect. Unaccompanied children are allowed in pubs that serve food (which is the vast majority of pubs these days).

I think it is more nuanced and will depend on whether the focus is food or alcohol and it will vary from pub to pub - without seeing the exact licence there is no way of knowing. If it is a primary alcohol establishment it won’t be

and that is what @Ponchodreams needs to establish really whether it is allowed at that pub within the licensing conditions or not.

if it is then she can establish whatever rules she feels comfortable with.
if it isn’t a heads up to the pub for their own sake (if they serve the wrong child it could eba massive fine) and explain to her child why it isn’t allowed and whether there are none alcohol options (cafes/coffee shops etc) she can do it

because 12/13 is the time girls do start to want to have a drink with friends where we live is full of cafes/coffee shops so DD wouldn’t ever need to choose a pub so what the DD wants is absolutely fine a check should be made whether it is allowed or not.

because if the pub is going against its licensing rules the fines can be catastrophic in today’s environment