Is it appropriate to gift booze to teachers?

[Uninspiredusername]

Just that, really.
Kid is new to school so not done the end of term present for teacher but don’t want to give them a mug, they’ll have about thirty already?! Would a bottle of fizz be ok? Or is that not appropriate? Or maybe just a box of chocs??

Teacher folk what goes down well with you?

Any suggestions welcome!

@pleasedonttextmyman at my kids school they'd be lining round the block for tickets better than some half used bubble bath

Depends on the teacher. One of my old teachers used to say that a small glass of whisky with breakfast was the only thing that had got him through 35 years of teaching. We all knew what to get him as a leaving gift.

You wouldn’t give cigarettes because you don’t know if the recipient smokes and it’s a drug/habit that it frowned upon.

The only difference here is that alcohol is a socially acceptable drug 🤷‍♀️

This is always the problem at getting a gift for someone you don't know.

A few have said if they don't drink etc they can just pass it on. That's true, but the question then is why buy a gift if you don't actually care who gets the use out of it? Is it just to say you bought a gift?

I can't drink wine. Never have been able to. It flares up my rosacea really badly.

For teachers I always did a hand written note thanking them for their work and detailing the things that really helped my child.

My OH is a teacher. It is not just appropriate; it is optimal

"For teachers I always did a hand written note thanking them for their work and detailing the things that really helped my child"

Yes I like this idea, when my DC were old enough I got them to write the card (I didn't expect teachers to keep them forever, just read a nice message and put it in the shredder )

I'm a teacher and I get gifts of booze all the time. They're the best ones!

how often do you regift a pack of cigarettes when you are invited to a diner party, to thank a neighbour or to give for the school raffle?

Nothing like giving cigarettes that’s ridiculous

Only because cigarettes have become less socially acceptable due to being a drug, like alcohol!

It would have been completely acceptable a generation ago to give cigars as a celebration gift to people who aren't regular smokers

Well chocolates wouldn’t be any good to someone on a diet. Like any gift, you just do your best. Wine is a good as anything risk wise, and a preference for many, including on here.

Throwntothewolves oh I definitely get it unfortunately. I think some people see it as an easy option for them but aren't thinking of the recipient.

I work in a school and get given alcohol, but I'm tea total!! I then have to pretend that I love it when actually I'm thinking what am I going to do with it. A couple of parents give gift vouchers for M and S/costa/Starbucks and I appreciate them and can use them.

I don’t feel comfortable giving alcohol, is chocolates ok?? Or is it rubbish?

I’ve given DDs teachers really beautiful looking bottles of wine this year so if they don’t like or want wine they can regift it to someone else. Dd still gets to show her appreciation for the teachers that way and the teachers either get some nice wine or save having to buy a bottle next time they go for dinner somewhere or need a gift for someone else. Win win as far as I can see.

As someone who has worked in a school I would say a resounding yes.
Ok some teachers don’t drink; but I am sure most have visiting relatives or friends who drink and they could serve it up then.

@Twoforthree

Well chocolates wouldn’t be any good to someone on a diet. Like any gift, you just do your best. Wine is a good as anything risk wise, and a preference for many, including on here.

Chocolate is better than alcohol as there are fewer reasons why people might not eat chocolate. My sister is allergic to cocoa so can only have white chocolate. She’s quite unusual in that. I’m regularly on a diet but having a box of chocolates in the cupboard is a good way for me to have a small sweet treat.

Every gift comes with ‘risks’ if you don’t know the person that well. Alcohol comes with more risks than most other commonly given gifts though.

I never did. You don't know if they or anyone else in their household has alcohol issues.

My last class of parents did their homework and bought me my favourite blood orange gin. Didn't even last until the end of the holidays

I think I might start gifting mine little cannabis plants 🤣

Seriously though, in my experience alcohol often leads to domestic abuse, mental breakdowns and suicide. I know there is a massive load of people who can drink perfectly fine, but I also have seen enough people die from suicide, alcoholic liver disease and other alcohol related illnesses to not want to gift it to the wrong people. I wouldn't want to give someone a bottle, that they take home. Their abusive partner drinks it, and injures them or their kid. They or their partner (or both) relapse after years of sobriety and end up dying a horrible alcoholic death. Or they have a couple of glasses on the last day of term, drive home and get in crash and end up at best with a drink driving conviction, at worst dead or with somebody else's death on their hands.

I do also know that my life experiences have left me very anti alcohol in a way I wouldn't have been had I had different experiences. I know alcohol is seen as a common gift, that it is a social norm to gift alcohol. Despite that I cannot gift anyone alcohol in all conscience.

For me it is like gifting then drugs or cigarettes or strong painkillers or sleeping tablets or something.

Yes I know we live in a country with a massive obesity problem, but I do not feel as uncomfortable about gifting food stuff. If the teacher doesn't eat it and takes it home and their abusive spouse eats if all, they might get a tummy ache. If the teacher scoffs some on the last day of term and drives home, they will just drive home. If they have been on a diet and relapse on chocolate they will probably be ok soon enough.

Personally we mostly do a card and something the kids have made for them if they've done that. Or maybe something the teacher has mentioned, like if the teacher is obsessed with lady birds we might get a purse with a ladybird on it or if they always have a Costa on their desk each morning then a gift voucher for Costa or a Costa travel mug.

I am not a drinker myself, but never mentioned the fact when parents were kind enough to make a generous gesture, and I would go to family gathering with any bottles. Many were the heartfelt toasts raised to the establishment where I taught, and many the times I was urged not to leave that school! As I've said before, the thing I keep and treasure are the lovely messages of thanks from my pupils and their parents.

On the whole, teachers are really appreciative for anything at all. We don't expect presents or thank yous but it is lovely to receive them if we do. It really is the thought that counts, regardless of the gift. I say this as the owner of a dozen best teacher type mugs, although I only drink cold drinks!

Things I have kept and cherished over the years...cards and messages every year since I graduated, gifts obviously chosen by the child due to their sheer randomness, jewellery boxes/pencil cases which have been painted or sequinned by the child, a bracelet of beads strung by the child, tote bags with teacher appropriate quotes or pictures, potted flowers replanted in the garden, books bought from book tokens given to me (child's name written inside by me as a reminder), canvases of trees/rainbows made from fingerprints of every child in the class and dated accordingly, felt stars/fish/love hearts cut out, stuffed and sewn together by the child.

But wine and chocs go down well too! (Please avoid smellies though.)

I would say absolutely yes but many schools will not allow alcohol on site so it wouldn't be allowed 🙄

@GivingItUp

Not at all. There's a thing at the moment where the wine label has a picture of your child on and says I'm probably the reason you drink

😂

Yes! We love booze - far better booze than 30 "best teacher" mugs

@Uramaki

I'd go for chocolates. A lot of people choose not to drink.

Some chose not to eat chocolate!

DD just left secondary...her Maths teacher got 4 cand of pink gin and a tonic and two large bags of pork scratchings!