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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

11/12 year old drinking

160 replies

McCrispy · 11/02/2023 09:39

at a family party
allowed 2 drinks with water in between whilst adult is monitoring

yanbu - that’s not on abs will lead to alcohol issues and associated dangers

yabu - it’s legal and allows kids to learn about drinking sensibly

OP posts:
FrozenTodger · 11/02/2023 09:41

I don't have kids, so not sure how much my opinion counts. But this would be a no from me! I just can't see the need?

oioimatey · 11/02/2023 09:42

I had one Bacardi Breezer aged 11 with my Christmas meal. I was fine, and still am fine. It was fun (and didn't do anything)

PuttingDownRoots · 11/02/2023 09:42

Kids that young don't need alcohol

That sounds the sort of level you would use with a 14/15yo.

CrystalCoco · 11/02/2023 09:42

Big fat nope from me. I started drinking (lightly!) around 13 and decades later I haven't stopped, I wish to God I'd never started!

No way should a CHILD this age be drinking, not even a sip from someone else's glass, never mind a drink of their own.

Randobelia · 11/02/2023 09:43

What drinks? To me seems too young but would depend on the type of alcohol and the frequency.

Johnnysgirl · 11/02/2023 09:43

Why on earth do you think a child of that age needs alcohol?!

Newusernameaug · 11/02/2023 09:43

Absolutely not - I’ve always allowed my son to try a bit of alcohol, and say in France they give them a tiny bit of wine with lots of water at the dinner table but no way a proper glass / measure of alcohol at that age.
small sips / try’s only.

IWonderWhyIBother · 11/02/2023 09:43

Too young IMO

PinkPantherPaws · 11/02/2023 09:43

There's drinks and drinks...two half larger shandies or two double vodka and cokes?

11 is a bit young for my liking but at 12, Ds2 has a drink at a (very) special occasion. Ds1 who's two years older has two.

FrodisCapering · 11/02/2023 09:44

It's a no from me until mine are 18. There is just no need.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:44

I'm not sure what the drink was but when you say two do you mean two full sized drinks of whatever it was?

Like a gun and tonic or a beer bottle or glass of wine?!

Either way 11 is far too young.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:44

Gin*!

2chocolateoranges · 11/02/2023 09:45

Definitely not!

legal drinking age is 18 for a reason, we allowed ours to have some alcohol at 16 and now that they are 19 and 21 neither drink much.

11-12 is just stupidity!

McCrispy · 11/02/2023 09:46

it Was about 8-9%

OP posts:
Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:46

And if someone thinks it means the child is learning to drink sensibly then that is just fucking stupid tbh.
It won't teach them that, it'll just let them develop a taste for alcohol at a younger age.
And it's too much for their liver to deal with.

Why would you(they) even risk this?

Mrsbclinton · 11/02/2023 09:47

I personally think 11/12 is too young for more than a sip. I would think it would be more appropriate for 15/16 year old.

McCrispy · 11/02/2023 09:47

Thank you - just checking in not going crazy!

my dc has about 3 friends where the parents allow drinking one brought them a bottle of apple sours

OP posts:
Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:47

8-9% what the fuck?
Someone should call social services.

MerryMarigold · 11/02/2023 09:48

I think it depends. I would let my kids that age have a glass of prosecco to make a toast - it would make them feel grown up and help them to feel part of a celebration. I wouldn't let them have spirits, just drinking for the sake of it, because I think you're teaching them that they need alcohol to have fun. I wouldn't let them have 2 because that would probably make them tipsy even with water in between.

IClaudine · 11/02/2023 09:48

Nope from me, even though my parents did similar . Drinking is so normalised in society and thus contributes.

Findyourneutralspace · 11/02/2023 09:48

Everyone always cites the European way of drinking where children are introduced to a bit of wine in moderation at the table, but British drinking culture is different.

Theres a lot of toxic messaging around alcohol that children are vulnerable to picking up.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:49

So what are you going to do about it?

Houseplantmad · 11/02/2023 09:50

Maybe watered down wine with a meal, as they do in France but nothing stronger. Madness.

CeciliaMars · 11/02/2023 09:50

waaaayyyy too young!! Maybe do this with a 13-14 year old, as you know they're going to start encountering alcohol soon anyway, but 11/12? It's a huge no from me.

IClaudine · 11/02/2023 09:50

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 11/02/2023 09:46

And if someone thinks it means the child is learning to drink sensibly then that is just fucking stupid tbh.
It won't teach them that, it'll just let them develop a taste for alcohol at a younger age.
And it's too much for their liver to deal with.

Why would you(they) even risk this?

Yeah I don't buy that argument either. Would people give their kids a bit of cocaine cannabis to teach them to take drugs sensibly?