Alcohol at 11

[furtree]

Eldest daughter is 11 going to secondary school in two weeks time

Today we were invited to a barbecue, they have a daughter same age and my friend offered her daughter and mine a alcoholic fruit flavoured drink.

I stopped her but find myself wondering if it so wrong to let her have had it?

MmeLindor When I grew up in Switzerland we were offered a bit of wine/ aperitif at arround the age of 14 not before in my family. Everyone in my family (exept me now) drinks at meals and often an aperitif before a meal on big family occasions but I have never seen any member of my extended family getting actually drunk. I was quite shocked when I first came in the UK about the amount young teenagers drank and the state they were gettin themselves into, even before I became teetotal.

I was allowed a small glass of wine (not watered down) with Sunday lunch from the age of 11 or so - however I never drank it, thought wine was disgusting and never had more than a sip til I went to university.

My DS has asked - and been allowed - to try a small glass of wine (sipped it, didn't like it) and last Christmas he had half a small bottle of weak lager (didn't like it much either) He was 13 earlier this month, and although alcohol is readily available to him he has no real interest in it. Am hoping that continues to be the case until he is into his late teens.

I agree with the controlled supervised exposure to 'real alcohol' and not alcopops, but still think 11 is too young generally. I think being showing how to enjoy alcohol as part of a meal showing how you dont need to get blotto when you drink it is important, but only regular after 11.

I always thought the legal age limit is 18 because your organs are still developing and alcohol can interfere with this.

Yep, I agree 11 is far too young for a full drink. I have given my dc sips of my wine at that age which have usually evoked a response of 'yuk' hence putting them off for a bit longer :)

The legal limit is 21 in the USA for a good reason.

Yes and in many states you can buy a gun at 18 and in Texas they have fast track security checks so those with guns can jump the queues. Not sure if our American cousins can be relied upon to be the voice of common sense.

Alcohol pre-secondary school age

Why, just why.

And not for a few years after that, either.

I saw this BBC article this morning about parenting and alcohol consumption. I though it might interest people who posted on this thread.

It uses data from a long-running longitudinal study (Avon) and finds that a tough-love approach with clear boundaries in the teen years is most effective at producing moderate drinkers in adulthood than either a libertarian (with easy access to drink at home) or an over-authoritarian parenting style.

Good link, i would agree with that.

My dad was an alcoholic, apparently as a baby his parents used to put a small drop of something in his bottle to 'help sleep'.

I think this had little or no impact on his future alcholism. His parents were over-authoritarians and i know as a child/teen he felt he was shown little love or compassion and had very low self esteem by never being able to live up to their expectations. He suffered from depression as im sure was a result of his treatment during childhood, which lead to alcholism.

I on the other hand as a child/teen had had lots of love, little discipline or boundaries (a lot to do with having a alcholic father) and went a bit of the rails as a teen with drinking etc.

IMO that article is spot on.