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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

How much/often does your 16 year old drink alcohol?

37 replies

Bagamoyo1 · 20/09/2021 07:03

DS turned 16 in August, and over the summer started having the occasional beer with friends while watching the football. I’ve noticed a lot of his friends are drinking regularly now, and every weekend there seems to be some event that involves alcohol. It seems too much too often to me - even if they’re not getting wasted, surely at this age it should only be an occasional thing? So I’m curious what others do. Thanks.

OP posts:

FortunesFave · 20/09/2021 07:38

It should definitely be occasional but unfortunately a lot of parents are lax and even encourage it.

I know of parents who think it's fine to get pissed with their teens at this age. My DD is 17 and she and her friends have a bottle or two of wine between them about twice a month.

Itsinthetreesitscoming · 20/09/2021 07:43

Mine is 16 and doesn't drink alcohol - from what I have seen, neither do her close friends. I wouldn't mind DC having the odd drink but like you I would not be that keen if it became a weekly thing.

Nonicknamesforcatapillars · 20/09/2021 07:43

Dd16 went to a couple of parties over the summer which involved alcohol. Sometimes she’ll have a few drinks if we have people over. But not all that often.

theseoldbone · 20/09/2021 07:44

When I was 16 (dinosaurs roaming Earth etc etc) it was an every weekend thing. Not drinking like an adult (glass of wine with dinner) but getting drunk with friends definitely.

My dd is 16 though and none of her friends (across different groups) drink hardly ever! Even when they hang out at the park no one brings booze. I offered them a wkd to share while they were getting ready recently and it was poured and left.

I didn't think it was trendy anymore!

PieMistee · 20/09/2021 07:49

So far not once. His friends are very different from when I was 16. On Saturday nights they go to the gym for a couple of hours then to the park to play football. I too went to the park but not much football was played!

Littlefish · 20/09/2021 07:50

Dd is nearly 17 (year 12). She drinks at parties (every couple of months), and an occasional glass of wine or cider with us.

However, some of her friends drink an awful lot more, more regularly.

Iluvfriends · 20/09/2021 07:52

Mine doesn't drink alcohol. In fact he doesn't even drink fizzy juice, never has .....he only drinks water.

AChickenCalledDaal · 20/09/2021 07:55

As far as I know, neither my 16 yo or 19 yo have drunk alcohol yet. Entirely their choice (and the 19 yo is quite vocal on the subject, so I'm not just being a naive mother).

Some of the 19 yo's friends drink regularly. The 16 yo avoided a party where she knew there would be alcohol because she doesn't like it. I haven't detected any regular drinking among her close friends at all.

Coffeeonmytoffee · 20/09/2021 07:59

She doesn't.

PermanentTemporary · 20/09/2021 07:59

My 17 year old drinks a bit more than he used to. He had 2 pints on one day in August, that was unprecedented. I think he had a glass of wine in the spring. It's minimal, in other words. He does have at least one friend who gets drunk at parties and occasional nights out. I find it a bit shocking.

Londonnight · 20/09/2021 08:06

My 20yr old doesn't drink alcohol at all. Never even tried it, he has no interest whatsoever in trying it. I am also not a naïve parent, he is very open on his opinions of not drinking alcohol. Maybe he will change his mind in the future, but at the moment I can't see that happening. He doesn't drink fizzy juice or squash either, just water

magictoadstool · 20/09/2021 08:13

When I was 16 I was a bottle of vodka a week girl (blame Bristol), but I have to say that by the time I was 17 I and all of my friends were ‘over it’, and by the time I went to uni I barely drank and was absolutely shocked at the state of the kids who hadn’t experimented and found their limitations yet. I’m now a lecturer at university and can see that pattern with the first year students I teach. It did take a few hairy moments for my 16 year old self and friends to realise alcohol was something to be careful with, but that’s a learning experience I suppose, and none of us have ended up being alcoholics or anything like that as adults. The most important thing is to be there as a safe harbour if something does go wrong - if your kids are scared to call you if someone goes overboard then thats where’s the really horrible situations happen.

SilentPanic · 20/09/2021 08:22

At least a few times a month. It isn't an every weekend thing like it was for me, and as someone said upthread, socialising has become very tied up in the gym/keeping fit. When they do drink, it doesn't seem, as yet, to be the kind of blind drunk we used to get either.

Ginmakesitallok · 20/09/2021 08:27

My almost 18 Yr old dd doesn't drink at all. She's just started at uni and the pressure on them to drink (not from fellow students, but from aunts and uncles/ grans etc who have bought her alcohol to take to halls) is unbelievable!

Laburnam · 20/09/2021 08:35

Not interested

Mermaidpool · 20/09/2021 08:43

Mine has chosen not to drink at all, never touched alcohol

GreenClock · 20/09/2021 09:01

The sporty lads at sixth form here seem to be divided between the “rugby boys” who go to ‘Spoons every Saturday and the “football boys” who mainly eschew alcohol.

When I was a sixth former (1988-1990) drinking culture was much bigger than it seems to be now. Everyone (more-or-less) was at the local underage hangout come 7pm Friday. Whereas these days I know lots of 16-18yo who don’t drink in the pub or at house parties.

FAQs · 20/09/2021 09:03

She doesn’t, unlike me when I was 16.

Froppysue · 20/09/2021 09:09

I was sitting with my middle dd (14) this weekend and she got a phone call from one of her pals - one of the boys they were out with was absolutely paralytic and they didn’t know what to do! Luckily my dh went and picked him up and took him to his mums house.. she couldn’t have cared less - a lot of them drink every weekend, it’s scary, some as young as 12.

My 19yo has tried alcohol but never liked it and is teetotal. Luckily her bf is the same, they’d rather spend their money on days out and night away.

WeAllHaveWings · 20/09/2021 10:42

It varies. At 16 not a lot, now 17 over the summer it was once a week 3-4 cans of cider. Since they went back to school mid August and it is now cooler he hasn't had anything for the last month, either out with friends or at home.

I am comfortable he drinks responsibly and appropriate for his age, but also aware a lot of that is luck with the friendship group he is in where they all either don't over do it or abstain completely and noone is pressured.

GreenTeaBlackCoffeeAndRedWine · 23/09/2021 17:08

When I was 16 I thought alcohol was cool and didn't used to get hangovers. My parents were also relaxed about it when I was with them at home. I hardly ever went out but when I did I would get drink.

But by the time I was 18 and could legally buy the stuff, I had started getting hangovers if I had been drunk. I was glad I'd done the experimentation while I was young and while my parents were close by. Because by the time I was 18 and could drink whenever I was much more careful with alcohol.

I'm quite relaxed about it now, I don't get drunk anymore and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine sometimes.

WhatHaveIFound · 24/09/2021 09:55

My DS is a few months off turning 17 and has only ever had a couple of beers at the few parties he's been to. Other than that he's not interested in drinking at all.

He also shuns soft drinks, fruit juice and caffeine (tea/coffee etc) so is cheap date with his glass of water!

lljkk · 02/10/2021 18:16

Fairly certain 17yo DS has never drunk. Not a thing. His friends not into booze either. I don't know why not, but my friends weren't drinkers either, when I was that age.

Older DC were not so hesitant.

Ted27 · 02/10/2021 19:43

my 17 year old doesnt drink and as far as I’m aware his friends don’t.

maybe its partly lockdown, my son was still only 15 at the start of lockdown, there were no end of exams, end of school, proms, GCSE parties etc where I might have expected him to start having a drink.

CatsArePeople · 04/10/2021 17:42

Probably more often than I know about. However, he's into sports/fitness, so much less interested in alcohol than i was at his age.

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