Replies to post #140652 on DD Support Board and Research Team

[1manband]

I heard the other day that in some states kids can drink alcohol if their parent is present?

Wisconsin. Other states permit minors to consume with parental consent on properties where alcohol is not sold (i.e., not in bars or restaurants).

[janice shell]

If we didn't treat drinking as if it were a THING--a forbidden fruit--kids wouldn't use it as a way to break the rules, and wouldn't see getting drunk as a desirable activity once they got to college.

In Italy, there is no "drinking age". Mothers send their 8 year olds to the supermarket for a bottle of wine, or brandy, or scotch. the kids aren't interested in drinking it at that age. By the time they're around 12, they may get a glass of wine at holiday meals, but again, surveys have shown they aren't all that interested. By their mid-teens, they start drinking beer--they can buy it in any bar, or at McDonalds with a snack--but usually not in excess.

it isn't till they're in their 20s that they begin to develop an appreciation of wine.