(I'm 17. Just to let you know)
So...my parents have told me before that they wish that it weren't illegal for them to buy me drugs or alcohol(neither of these are things I have EVER done even once).
They just want to get me high one time and get me drunk one time as a learning experience to show me that getting high or drunk is not good. (Though this isn't necessary, as I've always been anti-drugs and anti-alcohol as for as personal preference in myself goes)

I was thinking about that, and, I realized it makes a lot of sense to me. It could be a pretty good technique. So I was thinking about underage drinking laws and thought, "What if that were part of the law? What if parents could buy alcohol and legally give it to their children in controlled environments AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE?"

I think, personally, it could prevent a lot of underage drinking if the experience is made unpleasant by getting the kids so drunk that ALL the negative side effects come out (hangover, vomiting, etc.). I realize, of course, that this could be easily argued by saying it would just give the kids a taste of it, and the ones who regularly underage drink already probably would be like "This stuff is awesome" and it would prove counterproductive or just wouldn't work in many cases.

I just think that, as a whole, it could prove effective. What do you think, Menewsha? Do you think that would be a good parenting tactic if it is an enforcable law?

Edit: I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and about a third of USA states allow this sort of thing(not just for these reasons though. They just allow underage drinking under parental supervision.) About a third of USA states specifically prohibits this, though. And the last third does not specifiy either way, so it could thereby be assumed out of context in this last third that it's not legal.

So, now that you know all of the facts (at least for America), what do you think? Do you think underage drinking should be allowed in controlled environments under adult supervision or not? Why or why not?

I don't think it could possibly prove effective. You, for example, do not support alcohol, and if your parents were allowed to let you try it legally, you would not support it. On the other hand, kids that want to drink will. If they're parents are legally allowed to make them try it, they could, but the kids'll still do it. I mean, not many kids that drink or smoke or whatever haven't had at least one bad experience with it.

I think that it should be a case by case, type thing. I for one was given a sip of beer when I was twelve. I hated the taste of it. But after I became an adult I tryed other drinks and I enjoyed those. So while you could have someone who hates the taste of one alcohol, they may enjoy a different drink. As for doing drugs... Not really sure how I view that. I say that what it causes is bad, so it should remain illegle. But I know of people who think that by making it so, the gov. has created a 'forbidden friut'.

Generally, if the law does not mention something then it is legal. The law doesn't have to specify that something is okay to do. For example, sneezing at dinner time is not mentioned in the law, and that does not mean that it is illegal (like you say about drinking), but that it is okay to do.

Drinking is not that big a deal. There's no reason to put people off of drinking, because if we just realized that it's only a drink, only something that will change your perception for a bit, and might even help you relax or have fun, then we wouldn't have problems with alcohol. I don't like this stigma that gathered during Prohibition, that drinking is dangerous and bad and horrible. Drinking in moderation is just, well, whatever. Neutral.

^ Yea, but if it says underage drinking is illegal (which every state does) and doesn't say,"Even under parental supervision" after that, it's implied that underaged drinking is illegal in all cases, even though it doesn't specify that it is still specifically illegal in that case as well, but it still might be changed.

I think it would be difficult to call this.

On one hand, it's possible that it could be beneficial, but it would have to be tested extensively.

On the other, it could end up being a complete train wreck that wasted the funds used for testing and messed up the subjects.

Either way, I think it would need to be handled by an independent company rather than by the parents. And I doubt most drugs would be able to be administered in some way that makes it appear negative in the eyes of the child.

Originally Posted by Findae

I think it would be difficult to call this.

On one hand, it's possible that it could be beneficial, but it would have to be tested extensively.

On the other, it could end up being a complete train wreck that wasted the funds used for testing and messed up the subjects.

Either way, I think it would need to be handled by an independent company rather than by the parents. And I doubt most drugs would be able to be administered in some way that makes it appear negative in the eyes of the child.

Riddle me this: even if this were to work, why should the government want to do something with the pure intent of making them dislike it?

Since when should we ever support nothing more than propaganda, which is exactly what you described?

Riddle me this: even if this were to work, why should the government want to do something with the pure intent of making them dislike it?

Hm.

You raise a very good point, I think, Kris. I'd never thought about it, but I suppose the ultimate intent of this idea is to make kids dislike drinking, which shouldn't really be the case. I'd just been thinking of it simply in terms of discouraging underage drinking for the sake of the law, but that wouldn't really work, would it? This will ultimately destroy alcohol businesses(if it were to be a successful plan), and thus damage the economy. I'd never really thought of it like this before.

Personally, I'll admit I have a plan to get drunk (on my 21st birthday. cliche, I know). This is actually my girlfriend's plan, because she loves that I'm so innocent, but wants me to be juuuuust a little more uninhibited(though all this is a completely irrelevant topic, I think ;) ).

Kris, drinking is definitely okay in moderation, but I think it's definitely important to emphasize the dangers of it, because the ideas that it's okay in moderation and that it's dangerous can coexist, but if we only have the idea that it's okay in moderation, then there's less inhibition for going past moderation.

Originally Posted by Hermes

Kris, drinking is definitely okay in moderation, but I think it's definitely important to emphasize the dangers of it, because the ideas that it's okay in moderation and that it's dangerous can coexist, but if we only have the idea that it's okay in moderation, then there's less inhibition for going past moderation.

And making people feel sick from it shows that it's okay in moderation?

How about, instead of propaganda, we support a good education system which explains that long-term heavy drinking can lead to liver damage and sickness, instead of getting out youth sick?

In my life I've been through a very in-depth education program in my schools to educate us on the long term effects of alcohol, but most of the kids I grew up with aren't exactly drinking in moderation. It's more about parenting than a good education system, in this case. I still don't really see the harm in calling drinking bad though.
Also, I never said that we should deliberately make people sick from drinking.

Originally Posted by Hermes

In my life I've been through a very in-depth education program in my schools to educate us on the long term effects of alcohol, but most of the kids I grew up with aren't exactly drinking in moderation. It's more about parenting than a good education system, in this case. I still don't really see the harm in calling drinking bad though.
Also, I never said that we should deliberately make people sick from drinking.

People can drink and have a good time. Drinking something does not show someone the evils of it.

There's harm in the school system calling certain ideas or actions bad or good because education is there for us to make these decisions for ourselves. There is nothing inherently wrong about drinking, only something inherently wrong about irresponsibility.

I don't know what you're saying. You're right, drinking something does not show someone the evils of it. O.o I never said that it didn't.

And alright, drinking is okay in moderation. I'm pretty sure we've agreed on that too. What do you propose that schools do instead of teaching that drinking is bad? In all my years in school we've learned (supposedly) not to drink until we're 18, and that if you do it a lot you'll damage yourself. What else do you want to learn?

Giving alcohol to show someone that it's "bad":

I was thinking about that, and, I realized it makes a lot of sense to me. It could be a pretty good technique. So I was thinking about underage drinking laws and thought, "What if that were part of the law? What if parents could buy alcohol and legally give it to their children in controlled environments AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE?"

I propose that public schools do what they should always do: "These are facts about alcohol: x, y, and z. The legal drinking age is a. What are your opinions on alcohol?"

That was khboy, not me. O.o I'm confused.

I don't think that will discourage excessive drinking. I don't think kids listen to the long term health effects and care.

Then that is their decision. It is not up to you to make them decide anything; if they think it's okay to drink, then they think it's okay to drink. If they drink excessively, they will face the consequences, but they need to be given the chance to make up their own mind.

What about drugs? I know they're way worse, but we try our best as a society to stop people from using them for their own good. Why can't we do our best to stop excessive drinking before it happens?

Originally Posted by Hermes

What about drugs? I know they're way worse, but we try our best as a society to stop people from using them for their own good. Why can't we do our best to stop excessive drinking before it happens?

Although in fairness Kris never specifically stated that we should not be doing our best to prevent excessive drinking before it happens. In their latest post they specified that the individual should be given the choice as to whether they drink or not. My interpretation of this is that it speaks to external forces inhibiting their drinking just as much as those which are causing it. From this interpretation I reach the conclusion that we should be striving to address social injustices which push certain people into drinking excessively.

I can completely agree with that. I don't mean that we should only rely on 'demonizing' alcohol, I just mean that trying to rid ourselves of that idea really has no point.

legalization of all things would be rather irresponsible medically, many could die...wait population decrease... ok lets do it XD

ok no jk, it may have bad experiences, but some may want more for the "benefits"

There are arguably worse legal "drugs" than illegal ones.

Though, that depends on how you define "worse" and "drugs."

There's a whole (though brief) thread about it, anyway. ;)

I don't really like this idea, but then again I'm not a parent. IF a lot of parents like this idea, I would accept it.

I'm from the UK, and you can drink at any age in your own home here. The laws are kinda fuzzy, it might even be anywhere private.

Believe me, alcohol is a problem over here. And I'd leave America as it is, it seems to be doing better than us with alcohol. I'm sixteen; alcohol is readily available for me if I just ask a friend, I've been more than a little drunk many a time. I've thrown up. It doesn't put you off, really.

Just popping in to mention how incredibly hilarious I find it that anyone would give alcohol or drugs to their child/teen to show them how terrible they are.

I get the idea of trying to keep kids at home when they're doing that sort of thing. Drinking and smoking pot at home under supervision is a very safe way of going about it; certainly better than what most teens do, which often involves excessive intoxication and/or a motor vehicle.

But let's be honest - getting drunk or high actually feels pretty damn good to most people, which is why so many people do it so often. If you're first introducing your kids to this stuff in the hopes that they'll learn their limits (which takes most people some time and some mistakes) in a safe place, I can understand that. But the idea that they'll try it and hate it? Doesn't seem like a very foolproof plan, there.

Personally I'm concerned with the potential for abuse here. If parents were permitted, or encouraged, to get their kids inebriated as a 'learning experience', there'd have to be documentation on when and how it went down, or every time a bunch of kids got rtashed at a house party it could be classified as legal if their parents were present. Not to mention I know parents who would take this concept too far. My immediate family would have let me get away with drinking if I really wanted to, but they had rowdy biker parties full of drunk people in the front yard regularly, and after the third or fourth time some 40-year-old leatehr-clad sasquatch tried to offer 12-year-old me a beer I realized something wasn't quite right. They forbade any sort of smoking, but regularly attempted to get me to drink, even though I'd refuse every time. I didn't like the smell of beer or the other memories associated with it, so I always said no. If it was put into law that parents could 'teach' their kids about drinking in this way, I'm sure they would have forced me to drink until I puked.
Also, there is a great potential for kids to come to serious physical harm. Parents always think they know their kids inside and out, and may go too far with the 'dose'. I had this happen to me once-- my mother, thinking she knew what she was doing, gave me antibiotics for sores on my face, and I ended up with abdominal cramps so severe they were causing me to pass out. I ended up being taken to the hospital and narrowly escaped having my stomach pumped.

I don't think this would lower the rate of underage drinking. Kids are going to find ways to do what they want, and it's up to parents to monitor them and attempt to keep the channels for discussion open, so that kids will actually listen to what their parents say about responsible drug & alcohol use.