Anyone else think people are so much stricter when it comes to teens drinking now

[doggylover2]

So I've noticed recently that some people are so much stricter about letting their teens drink. To think I had a small glass of wine at Christmas dinner from around the same age as the french (and it wasn't diluted). Then when I hit 11 or 12 I'd be allowed the rare shandy or weak mixer (like half a shot of vodka in a pint glass and the entire glass filled with 7up or sprite), from 14 I'd be allowed beer wine or cider and then from 15 my parents would allow me the odd Gin and tonic at times like Christmas and easter. But these days I've heard parents say they wouldn't allow their 17 year old any more than a glass of wine and lemonade. People these days are too strict. From what I've mentioned it sounds like im a alcoholic when really I hit impressive GCSE and A level results, got a University degree and landed a job Im proud of.
Am I the only one shocked by how things have changed. And I'm not the only one who's also been raised like this multiple of my friends who are also successful now were raised the same way

Back in the 70s my parents let us have limited alcohol. Sips of sherry (yuck!) and beer - they didn't get into wine until I was grown up. The prevailing advice was to let children become accustomed to alcohol so they wouldn't abuse it as adults but research has now shown that to be nonsense. My parents were both doctors who abhorred hard drinking and thought they were doing the right thing.

I drank way too much at university and binged at times after that. I never became addicted and have not had any long term ill effects though I am still embarrassed that I once got extremely drunk on holiday in front of my kids.

Now I only drink occasionally and have vowed never to get very drunk again. I regard alcohol as very damaging unless drunk in moderation (Google famous people from the past and alcohol usually had a part in their early demise).

I have let my children have the odd sip if they ask - neither have yet acquired a taste for it. The eldest likes the occasional vodka mixer but isn't in a party scene so has rarely even been tipsy.

I'd hate for them to drink to the extent I did. Apart from the one occasion on holiday they've never seen us overdo it and I think that's the best education. But realise it won't necessarily stop them when they're older.

Drinking of any kind, and alcohol-related hospital admissions in particular, are decreasing markedly for teens and young adults. Some of that is because more of them are Muslim now but nobody’s really sure of the other treasons for the trend. In any case, the more restrictive parenting the OP has observed doesn’t seem to be doing any harm.

As pp have said from what my teenagers discuss with me alcohol doesn’t seem to be a major issue among their peers, my teenagers aren’t interested in alcohol at the moment, so I wouldn’t offer it to them, but I know some of their friends are getting involved with drugs, smoking, having sex etc.

BehemothPullsThePeasantsPlough it’s the same trend in the US which has much less Muslim immigration. I think it’s a generational shift.

I disagree completely. I think most parents are too relaxed these days.
15 year olds are having parties and begging for any alcohol they can get hold of.

Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and makes you more likely to take risks. Teens are more likely to try drugs or have unprotected sex if they have been drinking so why so many parents actually encourage their kids to drink I really do not know.

Yes brookshelley there’s enough Muslim teens to make a noticeable difference but not enough to explain all the movement - there’s definitely something else going on. Although of course any A&E staff will tell you that just because there’s a general trend to reduction in consumption and harm, that doesn’t mean that a lot of individual teens aren’t still being scraped off the pavement on a Saturday night.

It is much less easy for teens to get hold of alcohol now. I was drinking alcohol in pubs regularly from the age of 15 and never ever got challenged - and I really wasn’t mature-looking for my age, I was a skinny 5’2”.

My parents used to let me have wine at times and beer - probably from the age of 12 or 13 - and i am more strict.

As EvaHarkness says - although there has been the argument that this leads to sensible drinking, the research shows otherwise.

One thing that is typical of my teen parenting is the tendency to distinguish between

things I think are fine (quite a lot of things, actually, and it does help with the other categories if there's enough on this shelf to make a decent show)

things I do not think are fine: I might not be able to stop you but remember that I thought it was a bad idea and if you do it anyway it is on your head (drinking vodka aged 16 at your friend's party)

and

things that are such a bloody awful idea that I'm going to do everything in my power to stop it (drug-dealing would come under this heading or sex with a teacher)

Also, my children have known from an early age that I will not break the law or go against my conscience, so there is no point in trying to frighten me into illegal activities, or into anything I think is wrong, by hinting that they might otherwise get what they want in a more dangerous manner.

Buying a 15yo a bottle of vodka to take to the park or pretending that he is 17 so can get served in the pub is illegal so I will not do that. And they know it. What they do with that knowledge is their business, but at least they will know where I stand.

@corythatwas I have a similar view, what I think is a balanced approach but there seems to be such a great variation in how people parent teens.

With many of DDs peers it’s an all or nothing approach where parents are either incredibly strict and overprotective or they are far too liberal. Neither situation is ideal.