Drinking problem!

[vacerious]

First off...


Okay now that that is out of the way...

I think that if there weren't any age restrictions for alcohol, you would see drunken 4-year olds everywhere. It's not about the appeal of "the forbidden fruit", it's what it does to you that attracts people to it.

I was introduced to alcohol at 16. My parents trusted me to drink, as long as I did it in the house. You want to know the weird part? I didn't start drinking until I went to college. (Outside of the occasional 6-pack I would split with dad). It is about the "forbidden fruit" aspect. My friends would tell me about parties they had while I was away (I was off at a boarding school for half of my high school years), and they would describe about "how so-and-so got smashed/shitfaced/extremely drunk" and wound up spending the night puking their guts out in a tub.

I, on the other hand, had only managed to get a little buzzed with my dad and enjoyed it. It's all about how it's introduced. Teenagers just want to piss their parents off, and if alcohol is portrayed as some "evil evil liquid," the kids are gonna want to get into it. On the other hand, if it's introduced as something to be enjoyed with moderation, you'll find that it's abuse comes rather irregularly.

Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones.

 

[HardkorSB]

I was introduced to alcohol at 16. My parents trusted me to drink, as long as I did it in the house. You want to know the weird part? I didn't start drinking until I went to college. (Outside of the occasional 6-pack I would split with dad). It is about the "forbidden fruit" aspect. My friends would tell me about parties they had while I was away (I was off at a boarding school for half of my high school years), and they would describe about "how so-and-so got smashed/shitfaced/extremely drunk" and wound up spending the night puking their guts out in a tub.

I, on the other hand, had only managed to get a little buzzed with my dad and enjoyed it. It's all about how it's introduced. Teenagers just want to piss their parents off, and if alcohol is portrayed as some "evil evil liquid," the kids are gonna want to get into it. On the other hand, if it's introduced as something to be enjoyed with moderation, you'll find that it's abuse comes rather irregularly.

Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones.

Yes, you are.
When I was in high school, it wasn't about the "forbidden fruit". It was about getting the buzz in your head, doing stupid shit and then trying to remember it all. It still is actually but I'm way past that now.
It's really a horrible experience if you think about it but there's a point (meaning, when you drink a certain amount of alcohol) when you just lose control of yourself and become a different person. Some people just love being in that state and by some, I mean millions of people all around the world.
Sure, not everyone will do that but 1 in a 1000 is more than enough.

Plus, when you're young and your body hasn't been fully formed yet, alcohol should be forbidden (unless you want children to be dumb). These restrictions are there for a reason, you know. It's not always a political agenda or parents who want to sterilize society for the sake of their overprotected children.

 

[Cazza]

It's all about how they are introduced to alcohol. That can make or stop someone from being an alcoholic. After that responsibility comes in and responsibile friends and family.

I know people who I went to school with who already alcoholics. One guy said I'm not going to touch alcohol for the month of may. A day and half a day later he was drinking. He was introduced to it by his idiot friends and it's shown in how he drinks.

It doesn't matter if they were introduced to alcohol before they can legally drink or not. I was introduced to alcohol fairly young (10ish) by family. I wasn't allowed to drink until later. I didn't drink until 17 it was once because my father wanted to drink with me (we rarely saw each other). At 19 (18 legal drinking age here) I rarely drink. I belive it was because of the responsible introduction to alcohol.

 

[SilentCom]

It's not just about underage drinking, there is a problem with DUIs and alcohol related accidents. The real problem isn't the restriction of alcohol, its the lack of responsibility around drinking. Kids in America are being led around thinking its cool and everybody does it but don't really consider the consequences. The reason why it seems to work in Europe is because their culture is different and there is a greater emphasis on personal responsibility involving drinking. This is a little bit of a generalization but through my experiences, there are waaay too many people (college age and younger) who drink so they can get drunk and do stupid stuff.