In my culture kids like me are allowed to drink as late as 6 year old. But in America the drinking age is 21. I wonder if Americans would ignore this law or that some parents allow their kids to drink underage.
In my culture kids like me are allowed to drink as late as 6 year old. But in America the drinking age is 21. I wonder if Americans would ignore this law or that some parents allow their kids to drink underage.
Comments
Yes.
Yes. The vast majority of us have had alcohol before we turn 21.
A lot of people do, yeah.
Yeah
I got arrested and threatened with a taser for trying to get into a bar with a fake ID
Does a polar bear shit in the snow ?
People usually start in high school (14+ years old) but most of the time not with approval or allowance by their parents. By the time people are college aged though 18+ it’s rare to meet someone who’s never drank
lol. Of course some people drink before they’re 21, especially teenagers. In what culture do teenagers follow every rule?!
In some states, i believe it’s legal for kids to drink under 21 if it’s on private property with parental consent.
I drank a bunch under 21, but I also grew up in the boonies where everyone started smoking at 14. My parents would’ve kicked my ass if they caught me drinking, but everyone did
Yes. It was a rite of passage for many of us during our teenage years.
I did yes.
6 years old sounds insane. What the fuck is wrong with you guys?
I think parents allowing it is very rare. Though from experience, we do have parties in high school (usually 16+, since we start driving then and obtain a lot of personal freedom) and they certainly involve alcohol.
lol yup
Tons of kids do. I know people who started drinking at 13. Not that it’s normal, but it’s not rare either. Some parents even let their kids start drinking around 16-18 since it’s like that in Mexico, which a lot of families in my area are from.
I did. I mean, not at 6 years old. That’s more than a little bizarre.
I don’t know anyone who waited until 21 to have their first drink
What do you mean as late as 6? You should be drinking as a toddler, so 6 is considered a late bloomer for first cracking open a cold one?
Oh yeah. I moved out with my best friends at 19 and we were the party apartment. We just had an older friend buy.
Yup, just turned 21 yesterday but can safely say I have drunk plenty before that
Starting drinking at 18 when I went to College. I’m probably considered a late bloomer. It’s rare for people to wait until their 21.
All the time and even if you get arrested for it there’s often little punishment.
Yes. But the whole point is increasingly moot. The percentage of people under 35 who report that they do not drink has increased drastically in the last decade and it’s even lower the younger you go.
Anecdotally, it’s because of a combo of less partying/socializing in general among kids, many of them seeing alcohol as basically poison, and (most importantly imo) they’re all addicted to vapes instead.
US alcohol consumption laws are set at the state level. So the actual laws vary.
2a. Some states have a law that parents can legally give their children alcoholic beverages in private locations (normally a home).
2b. Others have it where it’s illegal for anyone but their parents to provide alcoholic beverages to children (bookending laws with a similar effect).
2c. And some states children can consume alcohol provided by their parents so long as they are visibly supervised, including in public such as at a restaurant.
Underage drinking is common to the point of being a cliche. If high schoolers hold a party while their parents are away, there is drinking (according to our fiction).
In some states (Texas), a minor may legally drink alcohol received from their parent/guardian.
Yes, and some states have internal possession laws so if you trip in front of a cop and you are underage you are going to jail. Kids are afraid to call an ambulance for alcohol poisoning because of this. (It’s been almost 20 years since I was underage I’m sure some of this has changed)
The first time I met my husband was at an off college party and he was drunk off his ass. We were both underage.
Yes. In excess.
Yes, all the time. The majority of people will have had more than a few drinks by 21.
Some old school parents will give a six year old a sip of wine or beer to taste (or to teach them it’s icky), and whiskey on a fingertip to soothe a baby was done in the past by some (we now know that’s dangerous) but letting a six year old drink a full glass is asking for a ton of issues and I personally don’t believe it can be hand-waved away by “it’s our culture” nonsense.
Yes, but statistically recent generations drink far less.
Absolutely
Yeah sometimes parents let their high schooler have a glass of wine or champagne at Christmas or New Years’.
Dude yes. We were sneaking smirnoffs starting around age 12 lol
You can drink at any age (most states) so long as the parent/guardian is present. My father let me drink around 13 if I wanted to have one or two with a meal at a restaurant, or in the home
list of states where teenagers can drink
In my experience growing up in rural New England, most people had been drunk before 16, maybe 17. When I started making friends in New York, it was essentially the same. Perhaps a divide exists in larger regions(?) but for the Northeast, I would say a resounding “Yes”. I’ve heard foreigners say the biggest shock about America is the lack of regard we have for certain laws – to the extent where breaking some is actually unusual; drinking being a major law that is broken constantly and throughout the day, nationwide.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes.
At bars and restaurants people are not allowed to purchase alcohol when they’re under 21. But the majority of people have friends, or friends of friends that are able to legally buy alcohol. It’s half a game, and half a right of passage, to drink when you’re not legally allowed.
Yes, it is far more uncommon for someone to wait until 21 to have their first drink
I think (but don’t quote me on this) that you can legally drink under 21 as long as a parent or guardian is with you.
I did. At like 15
In general, what parents allow makes no difference, as it is still illegal even if the parent would allow. Some people underage drink and some don’t.
Yes.
Some of us grew up in households where an occasional glass of wine was acceptable.
Others of us got fake IDs as soon as we could.
Many of us drank at parties in private spaces.
A few of us did all of the above.
A small minority of us behaved until we were 21.
It’s pretty rare for someone to turn 21 and having their first drink
Many people in the US under 21 drink.
As far as whether or not the parents allow it, is a different story. Some are very against it and will punish their kids if they catch them drinking. At the other end of the spectrum are parents who buy alcohol for their kids. My parents were in the middle. They weren’t buying alcohol for us, but didn’t punish us if they found out we had been drinking, as long as we didn’t get in trouble.
It used to be more popular but underage drinking is going down. Most kids much prefer vaping nicotine or better yet smoking/vaping weed.
I let my kids drink at home before they were 21
One of my friends’ houses was the local drinking spot when they were in high school. It was mostly just a few times a year. Everyone drank and played Smash Bros or Guitar Hero. The major rule was, once you start drinking, you aren’t allowed to leave.
Everyone knew about the house, including the local cops. Everyone just figured it was fine so long as nobody got hurt.
Yes
Yes a lot of people have done a bunch of other drugs too
Yes, but not in public generally, and often only “sneakily” in the company of friends.
Some people never drink at all. Of those who do, I doubt they waited until they were 21 to have their first drink.
There is a cultural shift underway in the US about drinking. Research reports show that drinking any amount at all is bad for your health, and young people are drinking less than their parents did.
Not saying it’s you but I find it really fascinating how non Americans especially Europeans will talk about their underage drinking escapades and somehow don’t have the brain power to think, that maybe Americans too also drink underage.
of course
Nobody really cares when you’re over 18. I’m not sure if that changed or not though, because I remember one of the big reasons my parents didn’t care was that the drinking age in Hawaii was 18 for them.
Yeah I started at 16