Buying alcohol for teens

[Laburnam]

Is it common that parents buy alcohol for their teens ( under 16) and allow them all to drink together in a home environment? Which often leads to drunkenness/ throwing up etc.
I say this as I often have to pick up and give my child’s friends lifts home who have had a skinful and it just doesn’t sit right with me. Or maybe I’m just out of touch

It's more common in some areas than others. I wouldn't do it and don't know any of my friends who would, it doesn't sit right with me either, but both me and my spouse grew up in areas where this was fairly common, in mine even down to 11-12 year olds (coming home and dealing with drunk pre-teens whose parents had all given them something bring because doing this at a friend's house was viewed as 'safer', to the point of not thinking it might be an idea to check an adult would be home shocker, they were there because my father was out of town was a terrible experience).

Area wise- it’s v affluent! Just don’t like to see it. I have a friend I grew up with who started drinking at 13, she is in her 40s and an alcoholic- it’s v sad. Maybe I’m projecting my past but to buy enough booze in to fill a pub for these kids isn’t acceptable

How do you know it’s the parents providing the alcohol? Isn’t it more likely that the teens have managed to amass a decent quantity between them and taken with them?

Definitely provided as was told by the son's Father

To be honest, I would prefer my daughter to be safe in our house with friends than rolling around the park. So I would buy alcopops is something . I always ask the parents and obviously don't do it if parents disagree

Mine aren't at that age but no way would I allow them to be drunk enough to be throwing up. I too live in a relatively affluent area and don't really see many teenagers drunk, but it's very common in my friends teens (who live nearer to the city and less desirable areas)
One of my friends had to pick her DD up as a random man found her too drunk to walk in the street, it could have been anyone! So yes, I'd prefer if they drank in the house, but ideally not at all until 16.

Was certainly common 6-9 years ago when mine were that age. I said no. My attitude was always "You cannot make me do something that is legally dodgy and that I disagree with. If you choose to break the law that is your decision: you cannot use that as a threat to blackmail me into doing something I don't think is right."

Affluence isn't as much of a factor I think as community attitudes around drinking and other recreational drug use. I've known very well-to-do areas that do this, it keeps the reputations if it's all behind closed doors, and worse off areas as there isn't much else to do, might as well.

The "if they don't drink here, they'll drink somewhere and something dodgy" idea is more common in communities that treat drinking as a given part of adulthood and teens drinking heavily with their peers as inevitable. Some view this as harm reduction (personally haven't seen much evidence that it does on the drinking - families providing alcohol seems to result in more alcohol at a younger age though the space is safer - though this may depend on the area and willingness of other adults in that area to provide alcohol). Some view this as their way to be cool - I've known adults across socioeconomic lines pretty much brag about their 'generosity' and being cool with pretty much whatever.

It isn't nice to see and there is strong evidence that starting younger raises the risks of addiction, especially if addiction already exists in the family and there are significant amounts being consumed in an environment that encourages these behaviours. As there is a lot of addiction in my and my spouse's families, I've been following harm reduction research carefully and there is much better work out in recent years and I think more people have been talking about these measures like planning out any drinking, planning personal limits and ways to reduce harm beforehand, and working through and ranking potential risks in plans (which may be part of why the recent generation appears to be doing the riskier types of drinking and drug use at a lower rate than my and my parent's generation did at their age).

We let dc1 have alcohol with meals, or one in the evening, but not to the extent of getting drunk.

Before lockdown Ds(16) would have a couple of cans of dark fruits cider at friends house which I buy him. He is sensible and sticks to that, he avoids get togethers where drinking is excessive as he doesn't like the way people behave when drunk/thinks it is embarrassing.

I would rather do that than let him try to source his own which is what some do by asking/paying a dodgy random adult to buy for them.

Affluent area or not doesn't matter, we have a mixture here, depends on the individual parenting and also the child.

It’s definitely a parenting issue. I do think normalising being drunk in a young age is potentially going to lead to problems down the line.