Thank heavens they are making strides toward being civilized!

That is what is so great about this site. Civilized could mean something totally different to you than it does me. Like I think having a gun on your side is civilized, I also think having a drink is civilized. Adults, not kids. But yes, it did seem sad that you had seen something of the opposite. Glad it is all in place now!

I'd hate to say this, but being a recent college grad... I can see why many parents are taking this route. 95% of the kids I went to school with drank when they were a freshmen, at the age of 18... and to most of them, it was their first time drinking... and it went badly. A lot of them got alcohol poisoning, a lot of them got DUIs... thankfully no one died.

The kids who did drink at home with their parents (glass of wine with dinner... champagne at a wedding, that sort of thing) actually fared better as to not binge drink, and also just seemed more mature towards drinking.

Of course, there's the 5% of kids that didn't drink at home and didn't drink until they were 21... so that's that.

I think you can see the argument from both sides. In europe, where there technically is no legal drinking age, you don't see kids getting completely %#@% faced and doing stupid things... if anything, they just had a few drinks and then went home. So I'm not sure where I stand on this issue.

Very good point Sneezy. But, at the same time don't you think that kids are growing up too fast and us as parents let our kids do too much? I remember if I were to stay the night at my friends house, who's curfew was 2AM and mine was a mere 11 pm. I would go to her house in a heartbeat just to be able to be where we shouldn't. If my parents would have had communication with her parents, I wouldn't have ever been able to stay over there. I never got into trouble when I had to be home at 11. My parents were still up and met me at the door, I knew it, so I would keep my cool. At her house, we did what ever went wherever and so on and so on. I seriously think it is communication, telling your kids what could happen if you do this and I think it is keeping that golden eye on them even when they aren't in your presence. I will also keep my phone line open to any one of them to call me no questions asked if they feel as if they are somewhere they don't want to be. I get your point though!

Oh, I definitely agree that communication between parents + kids are vital. But when I was in Spain over the summer, I saw kids (15 - 18) running around in bars at 2am... but most of them weren't doing anything. They were just talking, maybe having a pint, then they all went home. It's weird.

Obviously this gets into a different conversation, similar things happen with marijuana and amsterdam. In amsterdam, most of the people that were in coffee shops were tourists! Most of the locals didn't smoke, and if they did, it was on their balcony... maybe an after-dinner-smoke-with-a-cup-of-tea type thing. I didn't see one local overdoing it.

I think we have to find the right balance, and I think that's what the current laws are lacking in.

I agree Sneezy. I am going ot give my kids enough info to make their own choices, hopefully it works

I live in Ohio and we have the same law here that kids can drink with their parents at restaurants and bars. I've never had a problem with my teenagers having the occasional drink and learning to drink responsibly. I do have a problem with teens drinking to get drunk.

One of the more lame excuses CYS took my son because my old boyfriend took him to an annual KIDS dart tournament at a bar. Kids under 5 would be in that bar throughout the year because their parents wanted to drink.