"oh let them have fun" drinking

[LexiaFira]

One thing I hate with a passion. People that see others drinking or trying to get in with a fake id and go oooh let the kid have fun.

that set me off. one because i know the social standing of the person that said that and they never suffered in their life or wanted for anything so of course that person knows nothing of loss.

two, i live in an area where there are five bars within walking distance, FIVE! I am not against drinking ever, but at least try to drink in moderation or walk home or a cab or someone drive you. SOMETHING.
And there is nothing I can do about the bars as the house I live in is literally on the other side of the city limits and this is a college town so dropping one or two bars is like asking the town to cut off a finger apparently.

three, every other night there is news about a wreck either due to drunk or reckless driving. The local news has the courtesy to not show the people involved but always of the wreckage and 90% of the damaged cars are totaled or worse look like a pile of unrecognizable scrap. Yeah...no.

And I realize I may be taking this a bit far in my reaction, but the final thing for me is that I lost one of my friends in high school to a drunk driver. I won't go into details on that but for me it was enough that my friend died, she didn't get to her dream college, graduate to be a nurse, or have that family she wanted, it ended before she graduated her senior year.

And what irks me is that the person that spoke to my friend mentioned above knowing she is a bartender was basically saying yes, let the person get by with a fake id and lose your job over it. And I say that knowing that there are laws now for bartenders or very harsh consequences for letting a minor in with a fake id OR serving them with a fake id or no proof of id.

[insertNameHere]

People say im uptight, from the time I was about 19+ i started to drink more often under age, now that I'm 23, I won't buy for underage people because, well the guys who supplied me for the most part knew I was gonna be responsible with it, or were there to cut me off so they didn't need to worry about getting in trouble.

I get annoyed at some peoples parents that support underage drinking for everyone that comes into their home, especially if they aren't "responsible" enough to confiscate keys and make sure people are sober before leaving.

[Greenday]

My friends and I drank underage plenty. Our parents knew and supplied us. Did we overdo it sometimes? Yea, a little. But we had supervision and no one was allowed to drive if they drank.

I bought alcohol for people under 21 twice. Once for my friend's little sister, only because my friend didn't have money on him and we were already at the liqour store buying stuff for us and our friends. It was also just a bottle of cheap wine. And they were being supervised by some of the same parents that supervised us so I had nothing to worry about. The other time was for a friend in college that was two years younger than me. I've drank with her before and I know she knows her limits and is very responsible. No problem buying her a bottle of vodka.

As far as working at a store or bar and selling to underage, I would never do it. When I sold beer working for a concessions company, I IDed people and I refused sales. For something so formal and has such stiff laws, I'm not risking myself in a professional setting like that.

[Gravekeeper]

<snip>And they were being supervised by some of the same parents that supervised us so I had nothing to worry about.<snip>

Cept, you know, the brain damage part. >.>

Underage drinking is a stupid idea regardless of supervision or responsibility.

[Greenday]

Having a few glasses of wine isn't going to leave you brain damaged.

Neither will a couple mixed drinks.

For that matter, if they were in any country besides the US that allowed drinking, they would have been old enough to drink.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I started drinking at age fourteen cuz I liked the taste of beer. I never got drunk, cuz for one reason I didn't have the money to buy enough to get drunk. I started smoking at thirteen, too.

And no, I don't have brain damage. Then again, I also know when to stop drinking and go the fuck home, which a lot of people don't seem to know.

[LexiaFira]

...Then again, I also know when to stop drinking and go the fuck home, which a lot of people don't seem to know.

that is my complaint. the majority that do drink or not don't know when to stop and go home or stop period.

I don't condone underage drinking either but i don't go out hunting for it to tattle tale to the popo as well. I also know that if i did want to drink at that oh so know everything age i would at least not get caught doing it. but then I didn't want brain damage or being hung over at school to mess it up. but i already knew i was a teetotaler and did not want to increase my tolerance either
i'm a bad designated driver mostly for the fact i don't like bar scenes nor do i stay out late either

past that if you drink at home great, you're already at home and its up to you when you want to make an homage to the porcelain deity or not.

[Gravekeeper]

Having a few glasses of wine isn't going to leave you brain damaged.

Neither will a couple mixed drinks.

For that matter, if they were in any country besides the US that allowed drinking, they would have been old enough to drink.

Medically speaking, anything you drink at a young age is super effective against your brain. About twice over. So 3 glasses of wine hits you like 6. 2 mixed drinks hits you like 4.

The legal age has nothing to do with the medical side of it. Drinking at 18-19 is actually pretty bad too from a medical standpoint. Studies just focused around 21 as a cut off since it was the US legal age.

[Greenday]

Medically speaking, anything you drink at a young age is super effective against your brain. About twice over. So 3 glasses of wine hits you like 6. 2 mixed drinks hits you like 4.

The legal age has nothing to do with the medical side of it. Drinking at 18-19 is actually pretty bad too from a medical standpoint. Studies just focused around 21 as a cut off since it was the US legal age.

Really? So the difference between a couple years is alcohol some affects you twice as bad?

Honestly, if drinking at a younger age is so insanely bad for you, it's a wonder how I'm functionable at all. Because I had gotten drunk multiple times before I turned 21. How did I ever manage to graduate college and get a job right after college after all that drinking? Not even sure how I can function on a day to day basis.

When you are nearly fully grown in your late teens, the effects of alcohol aren't going to be drastically different than when you are older.

[Gravekeeper]

Really? So the difference between a couple years is alcohol some affects you twice as bad?'

Yes, actually. The effects don't actually completely taper off till after 22-23 mark or so. Younger you are, the more magnified the affect is.

Honestly, if drinking at a younger age is so insanely bad for you, it's a wonder how I'm functionable at all. Because I had gotten drunk multiple times before I turned 21. How did I ever manage to graduate college and get a job right after college after all that drinking? Not even sure how I can function on a day to day basis.

Yes, because one anecdote negates the 20 years of research? I'm not preaching out of my ass dude, I'm referring to actual facts.

I'm also not saying two glasses of wine is going to turn you into a bumbling moron for life. I'm just pointing out it does do damage and therefore is a stupid idea on behalf an an adult to enable a minor to drink regardless. Nevermind the fact that most minors are, by virtue of being young, not mature enough to handle the responsibility of alcohol.

[Greenday]

Considering unless you do it nearly every day, it's not going to make you brain dead or have severe effects, drinking each weekend or every other weekend isn't going to severely stunt you. The only research I can find says that binge drinking will cause it (which doesn't take a genuis to know) but I can't find anything saying that having a couple drinks is going to cause real harm.

If what you really mean is that underage kids binge drinking can cause serious health problems, go for it. I'd agree with that. If what you really mean is that if my friends and I, when we were younger, were destroying our brains by having a few drinks a few times a month, then I'm going to have to disagree with you since that is just plain not true. If you can find research that says that, feel free to post it. The only research I can find involves teens that are alcoholics and/or binge drinkers.

[Gravekeeper]

Considering unless you do it nearly every day, it's not going to make you brain dead or have severe effects, drinking each weekend or every other weekend isn't going to severely stunt you.

I never said it was. I said the effect of alcohol on a young person is more severe than an adult, and can result in permanent damage ( specifically memory and cognitive ability ). Not to mention maturity vs risk of addiction. Thus it is irresponsible to enable a minor under any circumstances.

If what you really mean is that if my friends and I, when we were younger, were destroying our brains by having a few drinks a few times a month, then I'm going to have to disagree with you since that is just plain not true.

But again, I'm not saying that and you're just using a personal anecdote. I could use those too if you like. My nephew started drinking in his teens, with his parents permission and supervison, fucked him up royally and honestly turned him into a little bastard on top of that. He only drank on the weekends too. Took a few years to straighten his ass back out again, though it is not particularly straight even now to be honest.

I could go straight back to my own high school life too if you want and rattle off the list of weekend drinkers I knew back then who are all brain dull nowadays. But its just ancedotal. >.>

[Greenday]

I never said it was. I said the effect of alcohol on a young person is more severe than an adult, and can result in permanent damage ( specifically memory and cognitive ability ). Not to mention maturity vs risk of addiction. Thus it is irresponsible to enable a minor under any circumstances.

It can be permanent on an adult. But regardless of if the effect is more severe, higher severity than very little severity still isn't that dangerous. Thus it's not irresponsible to let your kid drink every so often.

But again, I'm not saying that and you're just using a personal anecdote. I could use those too if you like. My nephew started drinking in his teens, with his parents permission and supervison, fucked him up royally and honestly turned him into a little bastard on top of that. He only drank on the weekends too. Took a few years to straighten his ass back out again, though it is not particularly straight even now to be honest.

But you said alcohol damage is permanent. If it's permanent, how could you have "straightened his ass back out"? Alcohol doesn't cause people to be jerks or losers or whatever. People do that to themselves. What else was he doing? Was he doing drugs? Who was he hanging out with?

I could go straight back to my own high school life too if you want and rattle off the list of weekend drinkers I knew back then who are all brain dull nowadays. But its just ancedotal. >.>

But what habits did they have after high school? Were they brain dull by 23? I highly doubt it.

[Ree]

Having a few glasses of wine isn't going to leave you brain damaged.

Actually, studies have shown that occasional binge type drinking in adolescents can contribute to damage in the brain that shows up in later years.
Ironically, the very thing that makes the adolescent brain so unique is the thing that can actually damage the brain with alcohol consumption during those important formative years.

The adolescent brain is set to learn and absorb and develop as it grows. It is often referred to as "plastic" because it changes and adapts as it learns.
Adding alcohol to the mix can disrupt the normal development. Most of the development of the brain is taking place in the frontal lobes during adolescence. Alcohol consumption affects the frontal lobes of the brain.

Short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Research has identified subtle but important brain changes that occur among adolescents who abuse alcohol resulting in a decreased ability in problem solving, verbal and non-verbal retrieval, visuo-spatial skills, and working memory. For example adolescent drinkers scored worse than non-users on vocabulary, general information, memory, and memory retrieval tests than non users. In a study comparing alcohol dependent and healthy control adolescents, it was found that drinkers recalled 10% less verbal and nonverbal information than controls, even after three weeks of monitored abstinence. A similar degree of reduction was found on attentional and speeded information processing tasks as well as deficits in language competence and academic achievement. Deficits in executive functioning, specifically in future planning, abstract reasoning strategies, and generation of new solutions to problems, have also been found.
http://www.petruspsychology.com/2010...substance-use/

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4566875...ntal-lobe.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_5106650_ef...velopment.html

As Gravekeeper has mentioned, the reality is, younger people do not metabolize alcohol as readily as adults.

The alcohol has a tendency to build up much faster in a young person's body, and the effects on the brain and liver can be worse than with an adult.

The body treats alcohol like fat when it is metabolizing.
Teens who drink can risk developing fatty tissue in the liver moreso than when an adult drinks.

As I mentioned, there are so many factors at play in the adolescent body, such as hormones and brain development, that affect how the body responds to alcohol consumption.
Adolescent drinking can be a trigger for developing dependence on alcohol.
Again, studies in animals have shown that alcohol acts quite differently in an adolescent and the body does not respond in the same way as an adult's to the less favourable or more harmful effects of alcohol consumption.

When all is said and done, though, the truth is, alcohol is a toxin.

Personally, I think it's incredibly irresponsible for parents to supply their teen children with booze, or someone else's child, for that matter.

I always hear, "They're going to drink anyway, and at least this way, I know they're home and safe."

What a load of crap!!!

Teens do not need to be drinking...period!

[Lace Neil Singer]

I can honestly say that tho I started drinking at an early age, I never got drunk til I went to college. The most I had at one time was a pint of lager. Age of consent is eighteen over here so at college, I was drinking legally. I've never been sick as a result of too much alcohol, never had to go to hospital or gotten injured or slept with someone. I must be unique. -.-