To think, you don't send a 14yr old to a party with alcohol?

[christmasandcounting]

Why would people do this? Child has been invited to a party with other kids of the same age. All the parents are giving them booze to bring with them? WTH? Why would ppl do this? They are CHILDREN!

It was the done thing when we were younger. Nothing too hard just a load of those cheap Belgian beers. I think it stopped us raiding the spirit cabinets

I’m not sure I could find it within myself to get too worked up about it tbh.

I wouldn't. I couldn't believe it when my sons best friends mum said she let her 14yr old have a couple of beers.

RebornFlame

Ha! Us too, good times

It’s polite to BYO. My mum told me never to go to someone’s house empty handed. plus it’s ok for teens to drink at home, stops them sneaking off to park bench or whatever.

We let our children eat high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and sugar so a little booze won’t hurt. At least it’s not crack x

My parents sent us with alcohol as teens, nothing too strong just like beers or Smirnoff ice

I dunno if 14 is a bit young looking back but no harm came. I just got mildly tipsy in a friends living room (and then talked about it the next day like we were absolutely hammered )

Child of the 80’s here - when it was v common and socially acceptable to drink from Age 14. However I wouldn’t let my children drink at 14. First drink I remember my son having was NYE when he was about 16, then before his prom. His generation aren’t big on drinking really. I notice my husband constantly offers him a drink (he’s 19 now) and my son v often declines. My husband thinks having a drink is part of socialising but the younger generation just don’t seem too bothered.

Because if your child is going to drink then it’s better that you buy it and you know what they are drinking. My DD was 15 when her and her friends would get together every 3 months or so and take a drink. I didn’t need to worry about her buying it illegally and we knew they were safe and adults were in the house.

My 15th birthday party was with alcohol, and I started to have a bit of alcohol before then. It was an odd occasion and just a bottle or 2 of pop

My friend had a New Years party last year and there were loads of teens there,including mine and hers, some with parents, some without. All stents were asked if they were allowing their DC to drink. My DD had one small bottle of WKD and threw up. My work is done!

Parents, not stents!

It's what we used to do in the late 80s!

Chill.

Everyone says that its better to let their kids drink so they don't sneak off or do it behind your back but I think that's bollocks.
At some point they WILL overdo it and the parents won't be there. So don't encourage them.
Our society is massively fucked up with alcohol. A & E tonight will be full of casualties of over indulgence. Any occasion. Sad? Drink. Bad day? Drink. Good day? Drink.
I know there will be many many people here who can safely stop at two drinks but a lot of people can't or won't.
If you look at the statistics of alcohol related deaths each year its far higher than heroin or cocaine but I don't see anyone offering their 14 year old a small line.
I'm not stupid. I know my teens might try alcohol but I'm not going to be the one giving it to them. If I give my sons alcohol they might like the buzz. That might make them chase it when offered it outside the house.

Wouldn't bother me to be honest, I've never had an age limit on alcohol and DS has never taken the piss, but then it's the way I was brought up and I have a healthy relationship with alcohol. I appreciate that others have different opinions, but if I had been sending DS to a house party with a 4 pack, it would have been for his consumption because he was allowed it, whether his friends shared it was up to then and what their understanding with their parents was. He usually came back with most of it anyway, he brought more beer back from a bbq in the park than he went with at 16!

14 is far too young IMHO
But I am always surprised about how many parents activiely encourage their children to drink

Don't make it the forbidden fruit.

Also you want your kids to be able to come and talk to you about this stuff. Not likely if your response is 'but you're a child!'

I read the first post and thought "god I'm an awful parent" my kids take one or two ciders to a party aged 14. About twice a year so far. They know if ANYTHING goes wrong with any of their mates to call me and I will drive straight there without judgement. I'd rather they told me there will be alcohol there and I know to be on call than them sneaking off like we did as kids. Some parents provide vodka etc and I do think that's too much!

I think I would have any issue with this. As teens they should be learning to drink responsibly and it is better with a controlled amount in someone's house with other adults present than some stuff that they have obtained illegally out on the street.

My youngest is 17 and I have allowed this for a couple of years now. I supervise (from a distance) her friends when they are here, and her friends' parents keep some sort of an eye on them when she is at their houses.

We did. Nothing really strong WKD or bracardi breezers. It was the rule that it had to be in the kitchen and the parents could keep an eye on it

Totally agree with you Northernsoullover.

I don’t have children but I gather this happens a lot.

Going against the grain, but YANBU, OP.
None of our family would give it to us, legal in the home or not. If we drank it illegally in the park, we knew we'd better be staying with someone else that night and not come home hungover.
14 is too young. 16 at a push, yes.
And those parents hosting are fools. When someone makes a lethal cocktail, they'll end up with vomit everywhere.
Disclaimer- alcoholism runs in our family, hence why they were reluctant for us to "get a taste for it".

My mum used to give me a couple of Bacardi breezes/Smirnoff ices when I was 14-15 for parties. Her reasoning was that I’d be looking to experiment with drink at that age anyway as I’d spoken about it, it wasn’t particularly strong (but strong enough that teen me would think it was), there wasn’t enough to share so no other parents would be annoyed that their kid had booze without permission, and it meant that there was less likely to be illicit trips to the offy to try and blag the hard stuff. She trusted me to have a few of them and as long as I wasn’t giving it to other kids she knew I wouldn’t go wild. It worked pretty well. But really it should be up to the parent to decide.