Writer's Block: Young and driven

[charisstoma]

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Legal drinking age is 21 here in Texas. But I was raised up north.

I was raised in a State where minors could be given alcohol by their parents. Intent was that the parents supervised so kids learned how to drink responsibly.
This was also during a time when the drinking age was 18. They've raised that to 21 now.

My parents would come home and each have a beer which we kids would line up to get a 'sip' of. *smiles* Amazing how when you put your hand up to help steady the can it can retard tipping the can back down and you can get more then 'just a sip'.

Results:
I don't drink often and never if I'm driving at all because I'm not able to function well enough under even a little of the influence to be responsible for the important people and activities in my life.

I agree with how I was raised. Under a parent's supervision children can be introduced to alcohol and taught how to use it responsibly if at all. There is no great mystique to it.
21 seems like a good age but I think too, if you are capable enough to take on adult responsibility like putting your life on the line for your country then you should be capable enough to drink responsibly. If you can't be responsible then expect to earn the full punishment and don't whine about impaired judgement making you do something you wouldn't normally do. It's the same as driving while exhausted enough you shouldn't be behind the wheel or on allergy/prescribed medications.

Comments

[luzestrellera.livejournal.com]

Here legal age to drink alcohol is 18 but police never did much about it in the past so if you were minor and you could get it in some way, no one was going to do anything about it... just since some years ago they realized that they should control it more so they begin punishing to those who sell it cause they finally saw that controling it was an effective way to avoid having irresposible teens driving and killing themselves or someone else...*facepalm*
so... i was raised almost same as you and totally agree with you about teaching children about alcohol and let them have a sip under their supervision
most children doesn't like alcohol too much, it's too strong for them so in my sister's case, it turned in she not liking alcohol at all, just beer and certain sweet drinks but she almost never drink and if she does it's in very little amounts
and ..in my case.. i loved it LMAO, but not beer, i didn't want to try beer and wine again until i was long over 21
as a child i loved cider and sweet sparkling wine but i only could have a bit of it at Xmas or New Year and they only let me have half a glass when i was over 15... anyway, when i was of legal age, i had more of it XD, and yes, i really like alcohol, now i even like the bitter tasting drinks but i don't feel the need of having it in big amounts, usually i become sleepy or happy, depends on the drink, after a glass.... so normally i stop there :P
i drink when i want which lately is really not often and well... i don't have a car *giggles* (the only problem is when i'm in a bar or disco cause "happiness" makes me look at men as if they were all Brad Pitt or Jared Leto... and then when i sober a bit i realize that i'm dancing with Lyle Lovett... XD)
and yes... responsability in my opinion is not a matter of age, is more a matter of how your are raised and what things and values are taught to you....

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

My family also let us drink whenever we wanted -- alcohol and coffee both. I literally don't remember my first drink of either one. I remember having wine with dinner if I wanted before I was old enough for school, and just a couple of years later having cocktails before dinner if I wanted. And if I wanted a screwdriver heavy on the OJ and light on the vodka, I had to ask for it that way, otherwise I got a regular drink.

For all of that, I don't drink now. I can't stand the taste of alcohol, even a tiny bit in a mixed drink or punch is revolting. I drank the occasional glass of whatever as a kid because it was a grown-up thing to do and I wanted to do what the adults were doing. After even Irish coffees failed to mask the taste of the alcohol, I finally decided at around seventeen or so that this was stupid, I had nothing to prove, and I quit trying. I don't drink at all now.

A funny: as I said, I could also have coffee whenever I wanted, if it was around, and how much sugar and/or milk I put in was up to me. I remember staying over at my grandparents' as a kid -- I think I was eight or nine this one time -- and one morning I got up and wanted a cola. My grandmother said no, that it was "too early in the morning" for a cola. I could have all the coffee I wanted, though. [headdesk] Ridiculous, but that was my grandmother. [wry smile]

Angie