Underage Drinking.

[Kumagoro]

Just saw another news item about underage drinking, which was typically blamed on alcopops.

When i was a youngster 100's of us use to go out on the piss after school on friday night. There were no alcopops then and i actually see less kids on the street drunk now then when i was 13/14. I couldnt have afforded to get drunk on alcopops as they are bloody expensive.

Scrumpy diamond white special brew and thunderbirds were all i could afford.

Kids today are spoilt hahaha

[Theo]

Underage drinking is for kids. Don't see the point in it, if I'm honest.

[Kumagoro]

Well a bit hard to do underage drinking if your not a kid... well at least in the UK

[Atomic]

I'd say there's less underage drinking now compared to when I was in yr10/11... 6th form didnt count. The pubs are way more strict with ID now compared to just 2yrs ago.

[mr_anderson187]

im 17, ive been going out since i was 15 and getting into clubs, underage drinking rocks, lol

altho its my 18th in 28days....

[Stewart]

Underage drinking is for kids.

Genius.

[blockers]

Underage drinking was fun, such a rebelish thing to do....white lightening all the way. The person with the most stubble was always asked to get it

Nowadays i can only afford the spoons....clubs anywhere except uni are too expensive. Bit annoying that they are so strict on ID that they do it everywhere

[Daymonkey]

Well i never normally drink, maybe at the odd house party or a special occasion, but i know people my age that go out every day getting totally out of there head(chavs mostly) which i would think is seriously stoopid, ive heard lots of them blagging about them having there stomachs pumped as if its something to be proud of. I have been brought up against underage drinking (my mum being a licensee) and also being brought up through my younger years in a pub(and seeing how messed up you can get) had made me know how bad you can get thus i dont drink to much

[Spud1]

underage drinking...something I am fully against. Even though I am now 19 and love to go out on the piss, I would stil be fully in favour of a law that would restrict drinking to over 21's.

The human body cannot cope with alcohol at such a young age. It really messes people up. I walk around stafford at night and 90% of the people I see are drunk, and the majority of them are CLEARLY under 18..its sickening. All these people brought up thinking that drinking is 'cool' and a great thing to do. They are ruining their lives...most will probly become chavs imho. Although I had in teh past vowed I would never say something like this, they are wasting the best years of their lives. If they did some work at night, or played games, got some sleep, or actually did something that they would remember [other than binge drinking] then their lives would turn out so much better - maybe they woudl even save themselves from becomeing full blown chavs.

I hold the same stance on smoking, drugs, sex...(most) laws are there for good reason, and the ones about age limits certainly are.

of course the irony here is that I have been out tonite, and have technically been binge drinking, but i'm nearly 20 and its completely legal. I am well informed of the risks, and know my limits. Maybe its just the way I have been brought up, but I feel that there is something decidedly wrong with underage drinking - and breaking the law in general...The worst part is that so many places dont even give a damn. both the local clubs in stafford [well actaully the only 2 clubs in stafford] dont care how old ppl are that they let in, as the majority of thier customers are underage. Its shocking, but theres nothing I/we can do about it. The police do their best but can't be everywhere at once...

[Agent]

both the local clubs in stafford [well actaully the only 2 clubs in stafford]

You call those 'things' clubs ?

Im going to play devils advocate here.
When I was 15/16, Sometimes, I used to go out on a Friday with friends onto a quiet patch of land no one really knew about. I feel really big headed saying this, but it was the cleverer group of people from school that gathered there; students in the top sets and consistent high results.
Someone would go and get the drinks, we would sit there for a few hours, having a laugh and a joke, and once relaxed, talking about things openly we never thought possible in front of each other. Not only did this make a few of us closer, it made some of us realize how fast life was coming at us (yr 10 over to 11).
After about 6 months, the novelty wore off. No one had ever been drunk, perhaps tipsy at most. No one caused any trouble (really the wrong type of people for that), and no one ever fell out because of it. In the end, this social gathering was the basis of lifelong, close friendships with other people. I know 2 of the people that became closer at this place are now hoping to get married somtime late next year
Also, several peoples moms knew what was happening, and they let us use their back garden’s and spare rooms, provided we behaved. I look back on these days and realize they were some of the best ive ever had. You have no idea what id do to be able to go back to them again.

I know inside that the people who are like this will still get the alcohol anyway. They are not as stupid as a chavs, and will use their brains to get it if they want. Provided they are mature enough to understand the consequences, and they probably were from about the age of 10, then I don’t have a problem with it.
It’s the idiots who think its “cool” that go and spoil it for everyone else that I have a problem with. The sad part is, that’s the large majority of the country at the moment. The “chav” culture that’s sweeping through the country is no worse than a disease. Although I wish it was a disease, we might stand a chance of curing it.
If they are on a street, drinking with mates, then they are the kind of people that im refering to. The people who do it sensibly, still are, and probably always will.

Just keep in mind that the age of someone isn’t an indication of their maturity level. Although I think 18 is a good level myself; don’t go crazy if you see a 16 or 17 year old having a casual drink with mates. For all you know, they could have an IQ double of yours and understand the effects of alcohol better than yourself. Don’t think that everyone under 18 is stupid.
The amount of over 18s I know that shouldn’t be allowed to drink is astonishing, never mind the under 18’s

[Rave]

The human body cannot cope with alcohol at such a young age. It really messes people up.

I know 2 of the people that became closer at this place are now hoping to get married somtime late next year

Gotta agree with Agent here. I first got drunk (under parental supervision) when I was 12. I started drinking properly at parties aged 15. I didn't throw up from excessive alsohol consumption until I was 16 (that was after excessive cheap cider). I had my first proper alcoholic blackout aged 18 and 3/4. The first time I became genuinely, unwarantedly agressive to people when I was drunk was when I was 24- that was after I got married.

If I had kids, I wouldn't try too hard to stop them drinking alocohol. I'd just make sure that they knew what the effects and the consequences were likely to be, and I'd make sure I was there in the car to pick them up afterwards.

Rich :¬)

[Spud1]

You call those 'things' clubs ?

meh the closest thing we got o.O can't wait till tonite, will be about to go out to a real club like 5th ave or rockworld again

Just keep in mind that the age of someone isn’t an indication of their maturity level. Although I think 18 is a good level myself; don’t go crazy if you see a 16 or 17 year old having a casual drink with mates. For all you know, they could have an IQ double of yours and understand the effects of alcohol better than yourself. Don’t think that everyone under 18 is stupid.
The amount of over 18s I know that shouldn’t be allowed to drink is astonishing, never mind the under 18’s

Fair point there, but its still illegal

advocating underage drinking is as bad as advocating warez, underage sex, underage smoking, drugs etc. Just because drinking is socially acceptable doesnt make it right...

[Howard]

I only drink very occasionally, and it's usually either at a casual gathering/BBQ thing at a mate's house or when I'm in a restaurant/pub having a meal or something. Thus far I haven't been one to go out with the intention of getting pissed. Perhaps this will change as I get older, I dunno.

I don't not drink, no. I just don't very often. All I know is I have never been properly "pissed outta my face" before

I think as long as 16/17 year olds are sensible when drinking then it's not a problem. 15 year olds and other assorted underage chavs just do it for the fun and the enjoyment of causing trouble because of it... THat's what most people associate underage drinking with.

[Kumagoro]

hmm Its hard for me to say whether underage drinking is ok or not... I think it really depends on the person. I use to go out on the piss every friday night after school since I was 13. At one point there use to be over a 100 school kids all pissed on the field having a good laugh not causing to much trouble. Haha we even got in the papers. The longer it went on though the more aggressive arsehole types started making things less light hearted. Eventually the police did something about it and we moved somewhere else met new people from different schools and had a laugh. This eventually ended up with us hanging about the town centre. This being around 15/16 years of age. This is when people started looking for fights with other groups.

Every week they would go looking for a fight, my best friend in particular always did this which always pissed me off. I think one reason people did it was because everyone in the group would know who it is and talk to them and they became ... wait for it... more well known and hence popular. Kind of like answering as many posts as you can.

I didnt do it though as Im not easy led and when people tell me to do something im more likely to say no. I also hung out with the so called intellectuals which was also good for a laugh and relaxed but nothing really that funny and memorable happens.

I think what happens depends on you. Seeing someone kick in tha face for no reason makes you think and I have never forgotten what it looked like and how i felt seeing it.
when they started getting into stealing car stereos was the worst bit and when i started being very distant towards those people.

To understand the chav you have to experience being one. hahaha

The people who did this were in the minority but of course they were the ones most well known.

When i have kids that age i hope i will have more of an understanding of what they are doing and what can happen, where as if you didnt actually go through it you are less likely to really know whats going on.

Being a class A nerd I saw both sides.. i saw the best and worst of each.
The chav side as you could call it had the best and worst aspects.

When we left school a lot of the boffs and goody goodys as you could call them didnt have the experience to handle a lot of drink and ended up dropping out of college. Many of the cleverest lads in my year dropped out of college as they couldnt cope with the new found freedom. But of course they landed on their feet eventually but never went to uni, where as i did. You can never tell what will happen.

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probably a bit long and boring and i repeated myself ... maybe ill edit it later.

[Lee H]

meh the closest thing we got o.O can't wait till tonite, will be about to go out to a real club like 5th ave or rockworld again

Good Call..

Be careful though mate. I was in Rockworld the other week and got chatted up by a 16 year old and 5th Ave is like a creche at the moment. Before you chat some girls up during this festive season of cheer - 1 RECOMMENDATION - Ask for ID before you do anything if you catch my drift

It will save 100000's of hassles later on

I agree with most the comments on here. I too was an underage drinker. I was going to the hacienda (god bless its soul) when I was 15 and clubbing on a large scale in Manchester ever since. We never caused ANY trouble, in fact the opposite we usually stopped a few fights in the kebab house on the way home.

[Rob]

I will just point to a lot of European countries, particularly France. Here 'kids' regularly drink with their parents at mealtime. And it seems to give them a better understanding of alcohol and it's effects. In France people are drinking from a relatively young age, and yet you walk round most towns you very rarely see the alcoholic stupor that you get in this country.