Children and alcohol in their own home

[asacia]

Well that would make what you said about chocolate null and void. You seem to be lacking in consistency.

Not sure I follow, please explain?

 

[Pyrrhic]

Why are we even making comparisons? We are talking about alcohol. Not cigarettes, not car fumes, not chocolate.

 

[Neecee]

Also, with regards to giving alcohol in juice/lemonade, why do you feel the need to do that? The child will then feel the need to have their drinks 'Irish' because they've developed a taste for it.

 

[Ema]

We allow 5 year olds to have chocolate don't we? Isn't that also something unnecessary that can be over done? Most people think giving foods in moderation, and teaching healthy eating from a young age is good. Why is it different for alcohol?

People don't die from chocolate poisoning.

Any kid's die from having a single taste of alcohal....im not saying drinking it as a daily thing....but a single taste ??

Any kids die from a single puff on a fag? The argument could go on and on, but at the end of the day, it's just not necessary to give children booze. Our culture is so focused on alcohol that we feel we MUST introduce it from early on in childhood. Children can't just be children anymore these days. We seem to want to let them do everything we do.

Yeah it could go round in circles its not necessary for children to have chocolate or pop etc etc. But if an adult wants to educate their child about the effects of alcohal and responsible consumption of it, and how it can be enjoyed sensibile. Instead of telling them its wrong etc and when they hit there teens, go full blown on it. Then its there choice aint it. I mean i wont let Jacob have a drink of alcohal, but a single taste i have no reason not too, and as he gets older come 11-12 let him have a drink on a special occassion, instead of him going behind my back and doing it anyway.

Im sorry but im not blind to the way the world is today. "we cant just let them be children" im sorry but have you not noticed the age in what kids are doing things now a'days? I mean you see 6year olds walking about with top of the range mobile phones, best clothes etc etc. Where i live majority of 10-15year olds hang about in the street getting up to everything. And i live in what you would class as a decent area. I well know that by the time jacob is 11-13 he will be going out drinking weither i know or not.

Im not backing giving a 5year old drinks but a single taste and educating them in it. Doesnt seem like the worst idea in my head. If he doesnt ask, then fair enough. But if my son wants to know about it, then i will explain it and not that its some you can only do when your older and make it a taboo subject.

 

[moomin_troll]

There is a BIG difference from a small taste like dipping their finger in their dads beer can to then actualy letting them drink it.

I would never give mu child a drink of alcohol at the age of 5 i think its a awful thing to do as they dont have a clue what it is and what alcohol does ie gets u pissed if u have enough. And id assume a 5 yr old wont be able to take much so even a sip might make them typsy n i for one wouldnt like to see a child like that.

My mum would let me try abit of her drinks growing up and also i was allowed half a bottle of reef at christmas but i wasnt 5 i was 10 plus so i knew what the effects could be after growing up with a alcoholic dad and step dad but it never stopped me binge drinking.

We all make our own choices in life no matter what our parents tell us or let us try

 

[asacia]

Because we were talking about giving your child poison.
Not about your kid being overweight. That is a whole different topic.

I'm not that familiar with alcohol use and children. Does anyone have any information on the physical effects on a developing body, and if it is categorucally a bad thing in small amounts?

Also - if anyone knows what I'm trying to say with the alcohol/chocolate thing, please step in and say it better than I'm managing!

 

[Neecee]

Well that would make what you said about chocolate null and void. You seem to be lacking in consistency.

Not sure I follow, please explain?

''Abusing or misusing chocolate can and does kill and ruin lives.''

You've gone from specifying chocolate to saying that general food abuse kills and ruins lives. We all know that already.

 

[Pyrrhic]

We allow 5 year olds to have chocolate don't we? Isn't that also something unnecessary that can be over done? Most people think giving foods in moderation, and teaching healthy eating from a young age is good. Why is it different for alcohol?

People don't die from chocolate poisoning.

Any kid's die from having a single taste of alcohal....im not saying drinking it as a daily thing....but a single taste ??

Any kids die from a single puff on a fag? The argument could go on and on, but at the end of the day, it's just not necessary to give children booze. Our culture is so focused on alcohol that we feel we MUST introduce it from early on in childhood. Children can't just be children anymore these days. We seem to want to let them do everything we do.

but a single taste i have no reason not too, and as he gets older come 11-12 let him have a drink on a special occassion, instead of him going behind my back and doing it anyway.

But you're talking about an 11-12 year old.

We're talking about adding alcohol to a 5 years old juice. A 5 year old will not remember the lesson. You can explain it to them without spiking their drink. If you add so little they wont taste it you've defeated the object, and they will simply think alcohol tastes nice as they can only taste juice. If you give them enough to knock them out and make them ill then how to you expect them to equate one to the other?

 

[helen1234]

cant compare alcohol and chocolate.

if a 5yr old came up to me and said can i drink your wine, i'd say no because this is what adults drink and when your a big person you can have some. end of. if you give in and they then walk upto you or someone smoking you going to say yes to that too.

alcohol has to be treated with respect and unless the child can understand in this way it would be a big no no in my house. sometimes no just means no, i'm not going to go into the in's and out of liver disease addiction to a 5 yr old.

x

 

[sparkswillfly]

Im sorry but im not blind to the way the world is today. "we cant just let them be children" im sorry but have you not noticed the age in what kids are doing things now a'days? I mean you see 6year olds walking about with top of the range mobile phones, best clothes etc etc. Where i live majority of 10-15year olds hang about in the street getting up to everything. And i live in what you would class as a decent area. I well know that by the time jacob is 11-13 he will be going out drinking weither i know or not.

I dont think the majority of teenagers are bad at all, hanging out on streets causing trouble. I dont think the majority of 11-13 year olds drink either. No way. I think it is still a minority and I would like to keep it that way.

 

[Neecee]

cant compare alcohol and chocolate.

if a 5yr old came up to me and said can i drink your wine, i'd say no because this is what adults drink and when your a big person you can have some. end of. if you give in and they then walk upto you or someone smoking you going to say yes to that too.

alcohol has to be treated with respect and unless the child can understand in this way it would be a big no no in my house. sometimes no just means no, i'm not going to go into the in's and out of liver disease addiction to a 5 yr old.

x

Thank you! A child does not have to have the same privileges as an adult. That's what separates CHILDhood and ADULThood.

 

[sparkswillfly]

We all make our own choices in life no matter what our parents tell us or let us try

exactly. I dont think my parents had much of a bearing on my life choices

 

[asacia]

Well that would make what you said about chocolate null and void. You seem to be lacking in consistency.

Not sure I follow, please explain?

''Abusing or misusing chocolate can and does kill and ruin lives.''

You've gone from specifying chocolate to saying that general food abuse kills and ruins lives. We all know that already.

Sorry, I thought one of the arguments against giving children alcohol was the risk of alcohol abuse. That was why I compared it to food abuse - we don't ban other things to prevent abuse/adduction, so why is that a reason to ban alcohol? I think I might just be having this argument in my head!

 

[Pyrrhic]

Also, I wouldn't let a 5 year old Niamh have one taste of my alcohol.

Frankly, children need to learn that some things are for grown ups. Just like I won't let her stay up late and watch inappropriate TV programs at age 5, or have a single draw of my cigarette. Children do not have to experience everything grown ups to, in order to have an appreciation for it.

I grew up knowing that my Mum had a glass of wine with dinner. I knew it was for grown ups. Never once did I even think to ask for some, or have any inclination to try it until I was 15.

If she wants to taste alcohol, at home, when I think she is of appropriate maturity to understand the concept, then fine. At five years old they are still children, and should be treated as such.

 

[Neecee]

Well that would make what you said about chocolate null and void. You seem to be lacking in consistency.

Not sure I follow, please explain?

''Abusing or misusing chocolate can and does kill and ruin lives.''

You've gone from specifying chocolate to saying that general food abuse kills and ruins lives. We all know that already.

Sorry, I thought one of the arguments against giving children alcohol was the risk of alcohol abuse. That was why I compared it to food abuse - we don't ban other things to prevent abuse/adduction, so why is that a reason to ban alcohol? I think I might just be having this argument in my head!

Hmm, probably.

 

[sparkswillfly]

Also, I wouldn't let a 5 year old Niamh have one taste of my alcohol.

Frankly, children need to learn that some things are for grown ups. Just like I won't let her stay up late and watch inappropriate TV programs at age 5, or have a single draw of my cigarette. Children do not have to experience everything grown ups to, in order to have an appreciation for it.

I grew up knowing that my Mum had a glass of wine with dinner. I knew it was for grown ups. Never once did I even think to ask for some, or have any inclination to try it until I was 15.

If she wants to taste alcohol, at home, when I think she is of appropriate maturity to understand the concept, then fine. At five years old they are still children, and should be treated as such.

Agreed. Well said.

 

[Pyrrhic]

Well that would make what you said about chocolate null and void. You seem to be lacking in consistency.

Not sure I follow, please explain?

''Abusing or misusing chocolate can and does kill and ruin lives.''

You've gone from specifying chocolate to saying that general food abuse kills and ruins lives. We all know that already.

Sorry, I thought one of the arguments against giving children alcohol was the risk of alcohol abuse. That was why I compared it to food abuse - we don't ban other things to prevent abuse/adduction, so why is that a reason to ban alcohol? I think I might just be having this argument in my head!

I think it was the other way around. People were saying they would give their child alcohol at 5 in order to stop alcohol abuse. Unless I missed a post.

 

[louise1302]

We allow 5 year olds to have chocolate don't we? Isn't that also something unnecessary that can be over done? Most people think giving foods in moderation, and teaching healthy eating from a young age is good. Why is it different for alcohol?

People don't die from chocolate poisoning.

Any kid's die from having a single taste of alcohal....im not saying drinking it as a daily thing....but a single taste ??

Any kids die from a single puff on a fag? The argument could go on and on, but at the end of the day, it's just not necessary to give children booze. Our culture is so focused on alcohol that we feel we MUST introduce it from early on in childhood. Children can't just be children anymore these days. We seem to want to let them do everything we do.

but a single taste i have no reason not too, and as he gets older come 11-12 let him have a drink on a special occassion, instead of him going behind my back and doing it anyway.

But you're talking about an 11-12 year old.

We're talking about adding alcohol to a 5 years old juice. A 5 year old will not remember the lesson. You can explain it to them without spiking their drink. If you add so little they wont taste it you've defeated the object, and they will simply think alcohol tastes nice as they can only taste juice. If you give them enough to knock them out and make them ill then how to you expect them to equate one to the other?

thats what i meant without explaining myself well giving them a taste when they are a teenager is different that giving it to a small child, when my kids are old enough i will educate them on the taste and effect of alcohol but i dont see the point on giving it to them when they dont understand what it is

 

[freckleonear]

I spent a lot of my childhood on the continent, where it is perfectly normal for parents to give their children a small glass of extremely diluted wine along with the meal. My parents did this sometimes, and othertimes they would just let us have a tiny sip from their glass.

In this way, alcohol was very much associated with food and family. We were taught to value the taste of different wines (and occasionally other alcoholic drinks), just as we were taught to taste cheese and olives .

I do not remember ever seeing my parents drunk. I have only been slightly drunk a couple of times in my life. My husband and I drink very occasionally, not to get drunk but simply because we enjoy the taste.

Personally I will be happy for Aaron to have small amounts of very diluted alcohol when he is older, as I feel that this is a better way of teaching him how to drink in moderation than forbidding all alcohol until he is 18 and then letting him go wild.

Many experts agree that in a household where wine is regularly served with meals, and where there is not an alcohol issue, violence or a communication problem, young people might experience some degree of protection against future alcohol abuse by being offered small tastes of wine. In my opinion, far more harm is done by our clubbing culture and the way alcohol is portrayed on television than responsible parents giving their children occasional and tiny tastes of alcohol.

 

[Ema]

We allow 5 year olds to have chocolate don't we? Isn't that also something unnecessary that can be over done? Most people think giving foods in moderation, and teaching healthy eating from a young age is good. Why is it different for alcohol?

People don't die from chocolate poisoning.

Any kid's die from having a single taste of alcohal....im not saying drinking it as a daily thing....but a single taste ??

Any kids die from a single puff on a fag? The argument could go on and on, but at the end of the day, it's just not necessary to give children booze. Our culture is so focused on alcohol that we feel we MUST introduce it from early on in childhood. Children can't just be children anymore these days. We seem to want to let them do everything we do.

but a single taste i have no reason not too, and as he gets older come 11-12 let him have a drink on a special occassion, instead of him going behind my back and doing it anyway.

But you're talking about an 11-12 year old.

We're talking about adding alcohol to a 5 years old juice. A 5 year old will not remember the lesson. You can explain it to them without spiking their drink. If you add so little they wont taste it you've defeated the object, and they will simply think alcohol tastes nice as they can only taste juice. If you give them enough to knock them out and make them ill then how to you expect them to equate one to the other?

WTF! Excuse me spiking there drink?? Knock them out??

You can educate a child in life without having to give them one lesson. I mean i want jacob growing up knowing the world around him. And that alcohal can be enjoyed without having to get raging drunk. And im still not speaking about letting him drink it. If you see my other post im speaking about him having a single taste if he wants it. Not with juice etc. Im not trying to 'teach him a lesson' so he wont drink later in life. I would be educating him that alcohal can be enjoyed later in life in moderation!