5y/o from Veneto(Italy): pathetic
Teach them to drink responsibly while they still want to hang out with you when you’re drinking. Prohibition until 21 just encourages binge drinking.
Can confirm. I grew up in the Carribean and I was allowed to drink beer and wine at a very young age. My mother taught me how to drink. I was definitely prepubescent, which is important because I hit puberty at ten. She explained that drinking can make you feel sick and that if I felt my nose feel funny I needed to stop and drink water.
Binge drinking and being fall down drunk is seen a something stupid, embarrassing, and something that only alcoholics do. I still find it strange and embarrassing when I see people racing to unconsciousness. What is the point of being blackout drunk before 9:00pm? We used to party until the sun came out, then we’d get breakfast and go to bed.
What the fuck? Prohibition until 21 keeps developing brains from being damaged
In a recent editorial in The BMJ, a trio of scientists pointed out that there are three periods in life when the brain goes through major changes and is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. Two of those periods are at the beginning and end of life. When pregnant women drink alcohol, it can damage the developing brain of the fetus, leading to physical problems, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. When people over the age of 65 drink alcohol, it can worsen declines in brain function that happen during aging.
The third period is adolescence. During those years of transition between childhood and adulthood, the brain grows and changes in many important ways that are crucial for that transition to be successful. When teens and young adults drink alcohol, it can interfere with that process of brain development in ways that affect the rest of their lives.
That’d be a problem, because recent research has stretched the the age at which adolescent development stops from 23 to 25. If you’re going for the medical definition, you’ll need to add a few years to your laws.
Obviously there’s a balance to be struck between 5 years old and 25 years old. The further you push it, the more likely people will use illegal means to drink, but you obviously don’t want 14 year olds to get drunk.
If your kids are going to drink, you may as well teach them to drink responsibly. You’re not going to send your kid into disability by having them try a glass of wine at a birthday. The risks are much greater when they sneak out of the house to get drunk with their friends, who have no idea how to drink responsibly.
I think my parents were smart about it, offering me small amounts of alcohol at special occasions only. None of that sweet mixed stuff, just basic beer or wine. The bitterness put me off actually drinking alcohol on my own initiative until I was at least 18 years old and capable of making my own independent decisions as an adult (legally speaking, anyway).
Pro tip: Get them started early by drinking during pregnancy.
A few times ago, I was drinking beer in the street in front of an American coworker. He was a bit shocked and I said “of course you can drink wherever you want, it’s the land of the free!” and I loled. I thank the internet for teaching me about weird customs all around the world. The end.
𝕯𝖎𝖊𝖘𝖊 𝕶𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖐𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖎𝖘𝖙 𝖓𝖚𝖓 𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖒 𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝕭𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖚𝖇𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕯𝖊𝖚𝖙𝖘𝖈𝖍𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉
