The latest anti-drink horror story in the Daily Wail is that a majority of children are introduced to alcoholic drinks at home, and this alleged problem is worse in white middle-class families. You just can’t win, really – if a majority began drinking in the pub or on a park bench that would be cause for even more outrage. Surely it should be seen as a positive factor that young people have their first drink in a controlled environment under adult supervision. And it is disingenuous to refer to them as “underage drinkers”, when drinking alcohol under the age of 18 at home is a perfectly legal activity. The article concludes: “Successive studies have shown that the younger someone starts drinking, the more they consume throughout their lives.” Umm, isn’t that a statement of the bleeding obvious?
Obviously, the younger someone starts moderate drinking, the sooner they are able to take advantage of the many health benefits of alcohol giving them a longer lifetime in which to continue their wise habit. This is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience the younger they start to drink the more likely they are to have a responsible and adult attitude to alcohol. It's not the quantity they drink but the attitude they take when they do drink that is the problem.
ReplyDeleteMudgie, dont start me off, my daughter who is 19 was and is always welcome to smoke and drink in my presence. We let her drink from the age of 12 at Christmas or her birthday with orange juice added. She tells me that she is very rarely blotto and always points out all her mates who have gone to hospital to have their stomach pumped.
ReplyDeleteIf she had been out of order she knows I would of smacked her ar5e.
I don't know what it is with the Daily Fail. They're journalists, aren't they? What on earth are they doing giving aid and succour to temperance fanatics?
ReplyDelete@Brian - probably so they can get to the bar more easily.
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