doda

I have a wonderful 17 year old son. He started drinking beer last month. He is very honest with me about what he does We live in a very small town and the graduating class is 20 kids or so. Tonight he went camping and partying with the group. I made and sent a bunch of food for the kids to try to absorb the alcohol and cure the munchies. He was floored by that fact that his mom contributed to the cause. Did I do wrong?

SomeoneSomwhere

I say the more you try to keep them from it the more they will want it...look at countries where the drinking age is 18/16/19 and not 21 like the US...they tend to have far less alcohol problems/binge drinking with college students becuase kids are accustomed to it.

My parents started allowing me to drink when I turned 18. Only at family parties and they limited me greatly but they let me.

I went to several parties where there was alcohol and began drinking at 13 or 14...it's pretty much the norm where I live. I live in the city but I've gone to parties outside the city in like wicked nice towns and while it might be more like 15 or 16 our there, kids do start pretty young... they like to break the rules and go against parents wishes it's the whole rebel teenager stage...

I honestly think keeping the kids safe/taking their keys/ deciding what they drink and making sure they are eating and drinking is the way to go... your kids are going to drink weather you tell them to or not... might as well keep them safe when they do right?

(I went to boarding school in scholarship at 15 so I hardly drank after that because I didn't want to ruin that opportunity and they were wicked strict about that, I started drinking really heavily in college and even more so at 21 due to easier access but the kids I know who couldn't drink at all growing up are the ones who tend to get transported/binge/in lots of trouble in college)