Fake ID

[LizzieJay]

I have found (yes, I looked in his wallet) a fake ID my 16 year old son has. It looks like a completely authentic European driving 'permit' (not licence). It has his picture, a false surname and false address, and says he's 18. I guess he's got it so that he can buy alcohol. I've googled fake ID's and it seems that you can buy them fairly easily... So, what to do? a) challenge him, which will turn into a 'why have you been through my things?' situation; b) take it away should I ever find his wallet lying around again, which is not likely, which will turn into a 'why have you stolen something from me?' situation; c) tell his Dad, from whom I am separated, although he won't do anything; d) tell the police; e) nothing. If I remove it, it seems unbelievably easy for him to just buy another.

How easy is it for you to admit you saw it? Was it just that his wallet could easily fall open and show it? I'd be tempted to admit I'd seen it, and talk to him about responsible drinking. The reality is it's hard to stop them getting hold of alcohol if they are determined at this age, either a fake id or older friends or a shop that all the teens know doesn't ask questions.

If you don't want to admit to seeing it, then you could just find a reason to talk about alcohol anyway.

I don't think taking it away will solve anything, and will just make it harder for you to have sensible conversations about things.

Having had 3 teens (ok I have 4 but he is autistic and unlikely to be out on the town ever!) I can safely say that an awful lot of them have fake IDs..usually around age 17 when their friends start turning 18 and can get into clubs/drink before they can.
16 is quite early for a fake ID and to be honest with it being a european permit type I would be quite surprised if it actually got him into a club or able to buy alcohol.. most places are really tight on these things and a non standard ID would raise eyebrows.. especially if he then didn't have a european accent, so I would not personally be that worried about its existence.

However I would tell him I'd seen it.. ask him what he planned on doing with it, and that if I ever heard of him using it to buy alcohol I would be giving a photo of him to the local stores!

Neither my DS1 or DD2 tried faking an ID but to my horror I discovered my eldest DD had not only altered her own provisional driving license (when she was 17) but other kids used to come knocking at our door asking for her to do theirs as she was so good at it I was not amused!

Thankfully she is now 20 and a respectable young woman at Uni having decided that a career as a doctor was marginally better than one in forgery

My daughter (18) tells me fake ID is 'always' refused. So don't worry too much. She did also day though that borrowing real ID works well even with only a passing resemblance to the real owner!

fake IDs are a good sign though, at least they are only used for buying legal stuff

is not as if local heroin pusher insists on ID

Fake ID is pretty useless for getting into anywhere. The sorts of places that are responsible enough to ask for ID aren't daft enough to be fooled by it.

To be fair, I remember being 17 - I used to go to the pub with friends, and then get on the bus and pay child fare to get home

I too, would engage in conversations about sensible drinking and that it's OK to say no, and about looking out for each other and what true friends are, etc.,etc.etc.

I think having dubious IDs is par for the course, just carry on with the usual nagging parenting re alcohol, drugs, behaviour, etc.

My 16, now 17 year old DS has been served in at least 3 pubs WITHOUT even fake ID!!

Thank you all for your responses - it's very reassuring to hear other's opinions. Thanks again x