How is this legal?

[aintallbutterfliesandrainbows]

I’ve just discovered that, you can supply anyone’s children, with or without permission (over the age of 5) any amount of alcohol in a private setting and it’s completely legal! I’d sort of known it was the case, but I assumed it meant your own children but no, you can supply anyone’s children alcohol if they’re in your house (with or without permission from parents).
As not to drip feed, these children were aged 11/12, mixed sexes.
AIBU that I think this is totally bizarre?!
I’m perplexed!

Has been the law for ages. Think there’s a caveat for reasonable but all these people who say it’s illegal for 16 year olds to drink at a house party annoy me as they haven’t read the law. nobody is going to be as silly to give 5 year olds booze but I was given shandy at 8… perfectly legal.

I knew it was law but I’ve never really looked into it and I just wrongly assumed it meant your own children or atleast with the other childrens parents permission. I just think there’s a massive difference between 16 year olds drinking at a house party and little 11/12 year olds, without the parents knowledge or permission, that’s my issue. I wouldn’t think anyone would be silly enough to supply a group of 11/12 year olds with alcohol but maybe I’m out of touch!
I was always allowed to drink at family occasions growing up and it’s the same for my children but I would never supply anyone else’s child with it.

But who actually would ? It would not have worried me when mine were younger going to a sleepover at 11/12 that the parents were going to give them unlimited alcohol because it was legally OK to do so. I can see the difficulty at 14-16 when there may be the occasional alcopop going on, and "to fit in". There are some really daft archaic laws that still may technically exist (mince pie on Christmas day anyone ?) but modern norms render them ridiculous. Unless you think someone is really going to do this, why worry ??

I didn't know this was law.
This makes me very uneasy, as the law could be potentially used to enable predators to abuse vulnerable children.

Who is it that gave your 11/12 year old dc alcohol?

I was having snowball at Christmas from a young age, and babycham, shandy etc. I personally never gave alcohol to my kids at home, they were 14 & 17 when they had alcohol at my brother’s wedding. DD has never had more than a sip, and DS drank at uni but now just has soft drinks as he’s not keen on the taste. I think 5 is a ridiculous law tbh.

I was aware of the law as I grew up in the pub industry. I would never give another persons child alcohol without the parents permission, regardless of what the law says. Even when my kids were teenagers, if they wanted friends round to have a couple of drinks for a birthday or something (16+} I would only allow it with permission from the other kids parents and confirm if they were only allowed 1 drink or if 2 was acceptable. I allowed this because I felt that I’d rather they were under an a roof with a responsible adult present to check they were ok than going off down the park drinking god knows what.

Giving 11/12 year old kids alcohol without parental consent is wrong. I also wouldn’t generally give that age alcohol, although at our New Year’s Eve party, all of the kids have half a glass of Bucks Fizz/Smirnoff Ice/WKD to toast midnight in with the adults (their parents). They always tended to have one sip then leave the rest anyway.

I would be very concerned about any adult choosing to give children of that age alcohol without your knowledge. I would assume it was for grooming purposes. I’d want to know exactly what happened. If it was the kids friends parents were having a drink and the kids wanted to try a sip to know what it tasted like, whilst I wouldn’t be happy, I could forgive that. If it was the kids were playing on their own and got into an alcohol cupboard and chose to drink it themselves, whilst I wouldn’t be happy they had that access and time, it’s a lot better than an adult choosing to ply them with alcohol. If the parents are from a culture where a glass of wine for everyone including children is considered normal with a meal, I’d think that was on me for not checking or saying that my child couldn’t partake. If there’s no cultural reasons and it’s an adult choosing to give the kids drink, my kids would never, ever be alone with them or at their house again.

Who on earth serves alcohol to twelve-year-olds? What a waste!

I'm sure I read somewhere that alcohol is legal for 5 year olds when given at home because some medicines contain alcohol or did I completely make that up?

Sorry @aintallbutterfliesandrainbows but could you actually describe what happened in the first person, rather than the sweeping statements about what is legal or what is not?

• Were the children your children?
• Was it family offering it to them at a dinner, or was it friends?
• I am presuming you weren't present?
• How did you find out about it afterwards?
• Did your children know not to drink before being there, or was it presented to them before you had a chance to have that conversation (and so they didn't know they were doing "wrong" in your eyes, they just took the lead of the responsible adult present)
• What have you said to the "responsible" adults since?

The world is ran by pedophiles so it does not surprise me. However, this is where basic morals come to play and no decent person would provide any child with alcohol that 1) isn’t their own or 2) is not 18!

What wronguns are giving kids booze ??

Ridiculous comments. Use your brain.

If people want to be paedophiles, do you think they care whether it's legal to give children alcohol?

Do you want granny locking up for putting sherry in trifle at Christmas?

Are predators known for checking laws before acting? Would repealing that particular law make them not abuse a child? Don't be daft.

Ive never heard of the law, are you experiencing many instances of people taking advantage of it OP?

It’s always been so.

Think about why this is the law.

Various religious and cultural groups in the UK use alcohol as part of their celebrations. Many, maybe all, Jewish children have a sip of wine on a Friday evening as a share of a blessing.

It starts with a sip at age 5 and then increases gradually so by 12/13 they have a full glass. When I say a full glass I don't mean the large glass you get in the pub I mean the type of glass your granny would serve sherry in, about the size of two thimbles.

Roman Catholic children children often (not so much since Covid)have a sip of wine with communion.

Now think about the consequences of changing that law. You have gone to a BBQ with family and friends. A couple of 12 year-olds disappear to play on whichever games console is currently played by 12 year olds.

No one notices that they have taken a couple of beers with them, no one notices when they reappear to get a coke and one adds some vodka to both glasses.

When someone does notice the 12 year olds re drunk you have the option of taking them to A and E. You do not have to worry bout the police getting involved. Yes it should not happen, but sometimes it does .

It might be legal - but no one with a brain cell gives alcohol to an 11 year old without parental permission.

when my tean was 16 - their best friend also 16 stayed over night. We had some cider in fridge - I’ve seen her have 1 cider at her mums house (we’re close friends) with a meal - so I knew it was ‘allowed’

But I still rang her mum discretely before serving it to check she was ‘ok’ with it and they appreciated that.

1 glass each!

I could have said - ‘she’s over 5 - it’s legal’ - but I’m not an idiot so I didn’t.

if someone is giving your 11 /12 year old alcohol without your knowledge - I think you need to worry far less about the ‘legality’ of it but look at who you are trusting to ‘look after’ your child - as I don’t think any reasonably competent adult would do this no matter what the law says.

It's not illegal in itself. Depending on circumstances it could fall under child neglect (which is illegal and a more serious crime than giving alcohol to under 5s).

A parent giving alcohol to children could also be sued for negligence.

Its like leaving them alone... not illegal in itself, but endangering them is.

Exactly. If you are worried that a paedophile will give your 11 year old alcohol without your permission - don't leave your 11 year old with a paedophile.

My dc were confirmed at 11/12 so had alcohol every Sunday as part of church services, it’s the smallest sip but the law allows for this. There’s also alcohol in certain medications, in sherry trifle etc. the law needs to take into account other cultural situations too. My dc drank wine as teens with a meal, watered down at first as did I

It's a grey area. It is illegal for anyone to buy alcohol on behalf of under 18s. So a parent supplying alcohol for a house party could be fined up to £5000.

It isn't illegal for 5-18s to drink alcohol on private premises, but depending on circumstances, if a hospital received a very drunk child, they could call the police and the adults involved could be charged with physical abuse and/or neglect.

It is illegal for under 18s to drink in public and their alcohol can be confiscated.

Given the total absence of any prosecutions or media stories about this being abused in any way, I would say you are making a fuss about nothing OP.

The USA will not allow a "child" to have alcohol until they are 21 and believe me the US has a far more unhealthy attitude to booze than the UK ever has!

@Lougle a 14 year old can have an alcoholic drink in a restaurant if part of a meal with parents permission

16 and 17 year olds can. Not 14 year olds.
https://www.gov.uk/alcohol-young-people-law.