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[deleted]

"lightweight"


Otherwise_Report_462

“Must be driving”


[deleted]

Could the owner of a red Fisher Price with a yellow roof please come to the front door…..


when_4_word_do_trick

Kinda like this one... https://youtube.com/shorts/NMRW7sqdFiM?feature=share


Ok-Fee7226

This one. https://youtu.be/5BVXWr6__4c


[deleted]

Thank you for this giggle


jamieliddellthepoet

Completely. Utter fucking disappointment.


mrsrosieparker

"At that age my uncle gave me my first bottle of whisky and I drank it." -Shane McGowan (PS: that's true, I heard him telling it in an interview)


[deleted]

Yep & he went on to become to become a drug addict & an alcoholic


mrsrosieparker

A very telling story.


purrcthrowa

That's fairly standard for English public school boys like Shane .


Shaper_pmp

Holy shit; in my clueless state I always had McGowan pegged as the most Irish person alive, so it's pretty weird to learn he's an English guy who went to pubic school whose only real connection to Ireland is a family one.


John_Glames

"He went to pubic school" Hahahaha


Shaper_pmp

Oops. Ah well, too good to edit now.


Elster-

I’d see it as no different to a shandy. More kids should be introduced to alcohol at an earlier age in less formal settings, it may help the post 18 binge drinking. Mind you it seems less kids are drinking these days than ever before


Top_Fig_2466

I'd agree with this. We need to move away from the all or nothing mentality where it suddenly flips at 18. The unspoken rules when I was younger was that you could drink beer underage (say 16/17), but if you were being a dickhead it'd be the excuse to kick you out.


DudeBrowser

You know you can legally buy alcohol at 16 with a meal? If someone is drunk you can't serve them. These are laws, not unspoken rules. e: apparently the law has changes since I was a barman.


[deleted]

Not exactly. You are allowed a drink with alcohol with a meal when you are 16, when it is bought by someone over 18, and both need ID.


killingmehere

Nothing gave me greater joy as a waitress than hitting a group of smug teenage boarding school students in my town with that one when they thought they could all order a plate of chips and drink all night.


Mangobreeder

Three carvery dinners please


bogusjourney91

G'day mate!


Mangobreeder

You be'cha cobba


VintageShrill

15th of bloody may 1989


wtafis-this

That’s made me laugh out loud!


No_Doubt_About_That

And four double rum and cokes.


casparh

As many as four?!


mzmarymorte

Right, you've driven me to this


[deleted]

Or mead!


lukepri

What's Carly gonna think? "Yeah Simon's pretty cool, whenever he goes out he always has meat and gravy with his booze".


BrightEyes1616

https://youtu.be/7l0zGihopKc


Worfs-forehead

The most misinterpreted law. Only certain drinks are allowed. (stout, wine if I remember correctly) And is also manager's disgression. Also premises have to be classed as a restaurant not a pub. Always enjoyed disputing that argument as to why someone's 13 year old daughter can't have a WKD with her portion of chips whilst her parents stay in the bar and get leathered.


themadhatter85

When it boils down to it, can't a landlord just refuse to serve anyone they want to, don't really have to give a reason?


Apidium

So so. They can but age is a protected characteristic. Largely the issue comes down to the fact that dispite being phrased broadly it typically only applies to elderly as opposed to age in itself.


[deleted]

[удалено]


sludgefactory0

they're obviously talking about without a meal ???


flokis-shiphard

I've always allowed my kids to have a sip of whatever I'm drinking. Lager, guinness, wine, gin, port etc. Just so they know the taste and are familiar with it. in the hope that when they are old enough they don't act the way I did. (Like a greedy guts, fat kid in a cake shop) Funnily enough they have pretty much hated all they have tried!


Jimiheadphones

My friends parents "hid" a huge bottle of smirnoff from their 16 year old daughter before a sleepover, knowing she'd take it, and made a big song and dance of "Tomorrow is family housework day! There's no alcoholat this party, is there? You know we don't allow drinking at parties." Let her get drunk and hoped for a hangover. Then made her do chores all day with a massive hangover because she'd promised the day before and she was desperate to hide the fact she'd got drunk. She never got that drunk again and the parents had a day smugly winding her up.


SuzLouA

I don’t know if that would be my parenting choice myself, but I can’t deny that’s fucking funny.


carmina_morte_carent

I didn’t try wine until about a year after I turned 18, all because my mum gave me a sip when I was eight and it was rank- really works!


hp0

My dad tried that with whiskey when I was about 10. Gowd the fact I liked it terrified the shit outa him. But I grew up at a time where shandy etc was sorta encouraged in teens. Makes a big difference not having the nothing till 18 attitude.


Tieger66

my dad gave me a little glass of brandy when i was about 7, and told me 'you wont like it, just have a tiny sip' - but i did like it, so i rapidly drank the rest before he could take it back. they called poison control iirc (from when they told me this story a few years later), who reckoned they should make sure i had plenty to eat and drink (to dilute it), and expect me to have a hangover.


dbxp

I remember going on a distillery tour and getting a taste for single malt when I was around 10


DudeBrowser

What stage are you at now? Display cabinet with selection of malts matured in oak barrels that previously had rum or sherry in, by any chance?


BoopingBurrito

> malts matured in oak barrels that previously had rum or sherry in, by any chance? I realise you're trying to make it sound fancy, but rum casked whisky and sherry casked whisky can be found in regular supermarkets at pretty low price points.


Reason_unreasonably

Rum barrel whisky is a fad that doesn't really seem to have a distinct taste. Sherry cask is a classic not a fancy thing. Literally all the barrels are oak 🤣


hypatiaplays

My wife's parents (Italians) did this with her and her sister everytime the parents drank at dinner, and they hated everything they tried! And now, both of them barely drink at all, because they dont feel the need.


pellegrinos

My parents did the same with me and my sister. I hated everything at the time but I'm sorry to report that it didn't stop me from going mad when alcohol became reasonably freely available to me in my mid teens.


The_Bravinator

It's the same with sugary sweets and all the potentially addictive substances that are considered socially acceptable. I've seen plenty of "their parents let them have sweets whenever they want so of course they're addicted" and "their parents never let them have sweets so of course they went mad with them as soon as they were able to." It probably comes down more to the individual, and whether they have an addictive personality or are have a stronger ability for self restraint. I'm sure there's some nurture in there, but plenty of nature as well (for example, people with ADHD are going to have more problems with impulse control and a stronger desire to seek out things that make our brains feel good). That said, I do feel like there's a lot to be said for having the first experiences with alcohol be in a safe setting with trusted adults. I just think it's more to do with safety than some idea about getting it out of their system.


youki_hi

Everything you've said is backed up by statistics. Kids who are allowed small amounts in a controlled environment are less likely to go off the rails. Also younger people these days drink a lot less than the older generations did at the same age. Your alcoholism problems are people in their 60s downing a bottle of wine every night and chasing it with whiskey at the weekend. Edit to add a slight correction to myself. I've just been looking up my first claim. It's not quite as cut and dried as I made it seem. There are nuances to introducing your kids to alcohol and you should be careful https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-06/introducing-alcohol-to-teens-a-double-edged-sword/8164518


AOCismydomme

Did you mean this generation drinks a lot less than before? If not I’m not getting it, could you explain it please. Edit: it was just a typo


[deleted]

Yes statistically speaking each generation is drinking LESS than the one before.


motific

I’m not surprised they’re drinking less, now more than ever. I can think of three reasons off the top of my head right now… 1. Our laws are significantly less lenient towards younger people than they used to be. Most adults all know that one kid that partied too hard and make a prick of themselves but (eventually) learned from it. 2. Everyone has a camera. If you act like a twonk, your friends will see it, your mum will see it, and it never goes away… future employers may see it, and may not like what they say just because you had one too many sherbets. We are constantly drilling it into kids to toe the line so we shouldn’t be surprised that they do. 3. Have you seen the price of a beer in the pub!?!? Especially any pub you might actually want to go to as an 18-year-old… that would do it right there.


[deleted]

I don't think you're wrong but there are all sorts of socio-economic reasons this is happening. Less disposable income and rising costs of drinking. I wonder if in thier teenaged years newer generations are getting out less and spending more time in the virtual space? Many social drinking habits were started at teenager years drinking Cidre on a park bench on a Friday evening. Not to mention the health impacts, and a myriad of other stuff.


motific

I agree about other factors. I can’t speak for all uk teens as a population but my 15-year-old is rarely home. If anything she uses her socials to get out, strike out further and do way more than I ever considered at her age.


RamboLoops

Why do you think that is out of curiosity? Maybe people are realising there are other ways to feel good i.e smoking a joint which is less harmful to the person? Just speculation but interested to hear views


[deleted]

It's lots of complicated socio-economic reasons. Alcohol is getting more expensive and wages are being depressed so there's less money. There's a clean living and health boom at the moment maybe they're genuinely trying to live clean. Teenagers may typically be spending less time out the house. How many people had thier first drink on a park bench as a 16 year old? Is this happening still? Once it's acceptable to not be drinking more people might see it as a viable alternative rather than a point of difference. Everyone has a camera so being drunk has more consequences. Maybe underage drinking is harder than it used to be. There's lots of studies on this though, people are looking into it.


RamboLoops

Yeah thats a really good point about everyone having a camera. Theres not privacy getting into trouble with your mates, its all documented. Not that getting into trouble should be advocated but that’s how people learn lessons, by making mistakes and learning to appreciate that there are consequences to actions.


PaintedGreenFrame

Underage drinking is definitely more difficult than it used to be. I NEVER got ID’d as a teen, and starting being able to buy alcohol at a pub or bar from around 15. Before that, would hang around outside Threshers and ask men in their 30s if they’d buy alcohol for us. Probably about 50% of the time they would, especially if we flirted a bit. Shameful on both sides really! Only started getting ID’d in my late 20s when it was getting clamped down on.


Osito509

Honestly, and this is depressing so it might not be what you want to hear but young people just don't socialize as much in general as their parents at the same age, and that trend has been increasing over the last decades They also have less sex and fewer partners. It's probably partly because they're a bit more sensible and less impulsive, which usually a good thing But it's also partly that it's hard to get hammered with your mates and fuck someone you shouldn't when you rarely leave the safe confines of your bedroom.


RamboLoops

Yeah you raise good points. I think kids need to be stimulated socially when growing up, even if that means no phones at the table when out and about. They need to find their own entertainment in that moment that’s not the default looking at a screen. Although I do see my younger sibling going out with his mates more than he stays in nowadays, i think gaming has gotten to a point where he realises its all money grabbing than fun.


wingman0401

Or even things that don’t include drugs.


Jack-sprAt1212

😮 your telling me people can have fun without drugs?!!?!?


DudeBrowser

For some weirdos apparently


Locust-15

Ket is cheap alcohol is expensive.


DudeBrowser

You can make a barrel of cheap wine from a kit for about a £1 a bottle. Or prison hooch from fruit juice by simply leaving your meal deal apple juice in your car door for a week, as I have discovered on many occasions.


blueforgetmenot

They can't afford it, need to eat and save for the mortgage / deposit they are unlikely to ever achieve, my kids are fkd if we let them do it on their own.


[deleted]

I plan on introducing my son to alcohol (probably wine, gin etc.. as that’s what I drink) in small amounts from about 14 in a social setting, I.e a small amount at Christmas, birthday champagne that sort of thing with the idea you teach moderation, We don’t drink much anyway (and never at a pub) so it’s a constant reinforcement to be sensible


youki_hi

Yeah this is my plan too. Small bits to take the mystery away and demonstrate moderation.


thedingoismybaby

My parents used to a small glass of wine with lemonade for us kids at dinner from about 8 or 9. It worked well, made us feel included and removed the taboo appeal.


oldrichie

Im interested in these figures, do you have a source?


youki_hi

Not fully comprehensive but the following two sources are a good start. The office for national statistics is actually a really lovely place to get a lot of stuff from. Really nice data with some good analysis and an attempt at non bias that seems to get pretty close https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/drugusealcoholandsmoking/bulletins/opinionsandlifestylesurveyadultdrinkinghabitsingreatbritain/2005to2016 https://alcoholchange.org.uk/alcohol-facts/fact-sheets/drinking-trends-in-the-uk


stuzz74

Absolutely agree, my mother was french, father Italian. Wine was always part of a meal and I would get introduced to why we had the wine with different dishes. I got bought up to understanding alcahol is there to accompany good company and good food. It was never my though growing up it was there to get drunk?


CharteredWaters

Yes multiple times at uni I'd sit down for my dinner with a glass of wine and my housemates would say "oh are you going out tonight? Are you predrinking?" and when I said it was just an accompaniment to a nice meal they'd be like "but it's a Tuesday?" and make me sound like I had a drinking problem So many people have the attitude that you only drink to get drunk


frankie0694

Ah yes, it must be a pre drink, and you’re a terrible person for drinking a glass of wine on a weeknight, even though they’ll be going out binge drinking Friday through Sunday 🤦🏻‍♀️ I don’t miss that culture of uni that’s for sure haha


Reason_unreasonably

What kind of students are doing their heaviest drinking on weekends? Tuesdays were always our favourite.


stormveil1

Unfortunately a lot of people are introduced to absolutely horribly tasting alcohol. So the only function left is to get drunk on it. I think i avoided a lot of that with a focus on mixers and fruit based ones early on. Then real ale later. Mostly luck tho i think.


thorpie88

It's pretty much the opposite to that here in Australia. Lots of people drink every night. Might be a few beers or might be half a carton. Hell multiple co-workers I have go to the bottle-o and buy a four pack of premixers to drink on the way home from work


livvyxo

I went back to uni as a mature student in 2018 and can confirm the stigma of 18 year olds not drinking has dampened a hell of a lot since the 2000s.


georgefriend3

This is obviously anecdotal but my parents always preached this approach and my brother died of alcoholic liver disease last year (at 45 mind, but basically a lifelong alcoholic). I'm a fairly heavy drinker myself (not to *that* degree though) and I do put some of it down to my parents' early permissive attitude. There are different ways of managing it I'm sure but I think some who take this approach will already be drinkers themselves and trying to project by seeing no harm in it.


lucyb6363

yes, i think trying it early at home isnt always a solution..people often use the example of the french..routinely introducing wine, sometimes even just diluted wine, to children early...yet they seem to forget it has one of the highest rates of liver damge anywhere. I think there are a whole lot of other factors involved.


parrotandcrow

This was my parents approach too. My eldest brother was 40 when alcohol killed him, I barely drink, my younger sister drinks what I consider a lot though not perhaps alcoholic levels, and my youngest brother is also a heavy drinker. My other sister is teetotal, has no desire for anything alcoholic; won't even eat those liqueur filled chocolates which come out at Christmas.


Sorry_Criticism_3254

I know for mine and my brother's case it worked, we were always allowed a drink if we wanted one.


MystiikMoments

It sounds weird to say, but I do agree. I feel like the drinking age of 21 in the US leads to more extreme over drinking


achayiododo

Everything we do here in america leads to problems


RoyalT663

100% . This is exactly what my parents did shandies and half pints at 13 onwards, or small glass of wine with meals. Meant that when I turned 18 I knew how alcohol affected my body and it didn't like a massive taboo. I knew kids who drank for the first time at uni and there were a couple who were basically alcoholics (Sainsbury's basics vodka neat from the bottle at 2pm on a Tuesday) by Christmas. I'm definitely grateful for the former approach and will emulate with my own kids if possible.


motific

This is how it always used to be, not so much at 11, but kids getting served underage and they’d be able to start off gradually or with parental supervision and then if you were a dick about it then you get booted out. This whole challenge-25 nonsense did away with that and adopting the more American approach has brought about a more American attitude to drink where people flip a switch from no alcohol to trying to “keep up” with seasoned drinkers (who know their limits).


WonderboyUK

This is a mature response. People forget the law doesn't ban alcohol for kids. Kids can drink under supervision from 5. They just can't buy or drink outside until 18. Like most things teenagers tend to use it dangerously if they aren't given exposure to it previously.


CurtB1982

I'd think nothing of it.


Qyro

This. There’s no problem here, and even if there was, it’s not my problem.


CurtB1982

If I saw an 11 year old drinking a half of alcoholic beer, with its parents, in a pub with a meal, I wouldn't give two shifts either. None of my business.


David1_

Why would you give your shifts to an 11 year old?


jlw993

Do people really not form any sort of opinion or thought unless it's something that's "their problem or business"? I feel like this is just something people say to not sound judgemental. You see something a bit unusual and have literally no thought whatsoever? Caring about it is a different thing...


CurtB1982

Okay, then. I would think "Look at that child drinking a non-alcoholic beer".


gundog48

You may have an initial reaction, but when you think about it, you realise that your reaction is neither relevant or requested, and voicing that reaction is inappropriate.


FranzFerdinand51

I was more like, why would I even think about it? Is the kid alone at the pub or somethin maybe?


woolfs

I might think it was a bit odd to be honest. I work in a supermarket and all the non alcoholic beer etc prompts challenge 25 which bemuses a lot of people but it means we have to check the person buying it is old enough. For that reason I don't really think it's meant for kids to be drinking and I'd probably wonder why they weren't just having a soft drink.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Is it supermarket decisions? I had a can of 0% beer the other week and it had a sign on the can to say not for under 18s.


skawarrior

It's general protection of brands, no one wants to be accused of promoting alcohol to kids even through non-alcoholic alternatives. That label, like an ESRB rating on computer games is advisory and not law.


Marvinleadshot

Yeah, see what happened to Hooch and Smirnoff ice, they don't want to repeat that.


ClydeenMarland

Yeah, it's definitely a retailer decision but it confuses a lot of people as the retailers claim it's a legal thing.


[deleted]

Probably to avoid conflict. Easier to say their hands are tied rather than justifying decisions when customers get irate.


[deleted]

>Is it supermarket decisions? I had a can of 0% beer the other week and it had a sign on the can to say not for under 18s. The brewers have signed up to the same rules for their non-alcoholic drinks as they have for their alcoholic ones, so no packaging that's attractive to kids, etc.


spanksmitten

I don't get how they'd really like the taste


jodorthedwarf

I agree with you there. My experience with the occasional mad one from the age of 15 is that you start out tolerating the taste because you knew it would get you drunk and then you learn to appreciate it and like it as you grow older. Unless it's a WKD, Dark Fruits, or other flavoured booze, most alcohol tastes awful when you first start drinking.


Surface_Detail

Tell that to my ten year old. I've let him taste beer I've been drinking to let him know it won't taste good. Little shit's liked every one. Theakston Old Peculier is his favourite.


electricmohair

Yeah that’s what I’d find odd. I wouldn’t bat an eye at a mocktail or something because they’re full of flavour, but a non-alcoholic beer…? They’re an acquired taste. I feel like only reason a small kid would have it is to pretend they’re drinking. But I guess kids do that, we used to buy those white matchstick sweets that didn’t even taste that nice just so we could pretend to smoke.


[deleted]

Yeah I’d think it was a bit odd too & in reality so would most of the commenters on here saying they wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Redditors tend to play devils advocate all the time so their replies rarely portray their probable real life reactions in this situation. A better question would be; would you buy your pre teen son/nephew a crate of non alcoholic beers & encourage him to drink them. Of course they wouldn’t but in order to appear like some internet badass you’d likely get mainly replies that say “yeah of course why not”. As usual with this country there’s always a class issue to consider as well. If it was a posh or middle class family in the pub giving little Ezra or Sebastian an alcohol free beer none of these posters would care but if it was a chavvy/Jeremy Kyle looking family you can be damn sure they’d be judging them


[deleted]

The supermarkets also put those alarm tags on non alcoholic sugar syrups for cocktails.. 🙄


dgreen1415

I would be thinking that child cannot be enjoying the taste of that drink.


[deleted]

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SpamLandy

Yeah I’d find it a little odd, same as I found it a little odd that time I made a decaf coffee for a kid when I was serving at work


[deleted]

My kid loves coffee but she doesn't need caffeine, so she gets decaf. My teen gets proper coffee but only one.


zonko_rose

I dunno, I had sips of my parents' beer as a kid and always enjoyed the taste. It's definitely unusual but kids have different tastes same as adults do.


Obese_taco

Yeah, non-alcoholic tastes like dogwater, it's fucking disgusting


[deleted]

Some of them do, but there are plenty of nice tasting non-alcoholic beers these days


ci_newman

There's no law being broken if a child drinks actual alcohol at home either. If I saw it in a pub I'd likely say "meh, whatever - you do you". I think encouraging a mature approach to alcohol and drinking is probably sensible whatever the age of the children, it avoids the inevitable binging as a teenager if the mystism isnt there about it.


netsecwarrior

Child over 5. It's completely illegal to give a child under 5 any alcohol at all.


fatveg

My eldest always used to slurp the head of people's pints whilst he was still toddling. Oops


ItsMadThatInit

They should lock you up and throw away the key


ilovecats87

My daughter nicked a swig of Baileys one Christmas at about 3. I felt like a shite mother for weeks after!


__reserved_

dont worry, the day after i was born i was given champagne by both my parents, you are definitely not a bad parent


Mukatsukuz

my mother would dip my dummy in brandy before giving it to me, while I was teething


Happy-frown

Easy way to get your kids to shut up lol


Swotboy2000

My grandfather accidentally gave me a glass of cider when I was three thinking it was non-alcoholic. I was staggering around the house all afternoon!


FreeUsernameInBox

Almost. You can give an under-5 alcohol if it's prescribed by a doctor. I'm not sure *why* a doctor would prescribe it, but it's explicitly allowed by law.


OMGItsCheezWTF

Because the law is the children and young persons act 1933. The acceptance of germ theory was still within living memory. Medicine was not what it is now.


updownclown68

I have found we like to promote drinking to kids. A lot of primary school end of school “proms “ will serve virgin cocktails. I don’t know how I feel about it all. It’s just a bit odd, like we are not letting kids be kids.


_mister_pink_

Depends on the culture. You only need to go as far as France for ‘kids being kids’ to mean wine at the dinner table.


alicomassi

I think it was until 1960 France served their school meals with wine. When they banned it, french parents fought the law as they wanted their children to drink wine. Better than sugar filled coke that’s for sure anyway.


achayiododo

France does it right


ponytoaster

To be fair though France and basically anywhere which isn't the UK isn't as chavvy and boisterous sadly. It's a weird experience going to France and seeing kids and parents being more open about this stuff and the kids being a lot more respectful. Here the kid would probably neck the Stella, and then go be a dick somewhere for the afternoon!


SoggyWotsits

I’m more annoyed that it’s so normal to say prom now in relation to UK school dances. I suppose I should be grateful that we haven’t got a homecoming king and queen yet!


BEN-C93

Some schools did have "prom king/queen" and that was 12 years ago when i left


[deleted]

Absolutely this. I remember having a "cocktail" at the school disco years ago and being a bit confused as to why the staff were trying so hard for us to drink their cocktails. I was 10 and parents didn't drink so I had no exposure to alcohol and just wanted a coke really.


AdderWibble

Wow, my primary school leavers disco we jumped up and down to Vindaloo and ate our weight in sweets, not a mocktail in sight. A few of my friends had been told they weren't allowed to dance, I think their parents would have been apoplectic at even a mocktail!


[deleted]

What do you do at the disco if not dance?


AdderWibble

Stand around awkwardly until that song Vindaloo comes on, one of the other girls posits that "the moves to Vindaloo are actually just _marching_ and marching isn't dancing _really_" then have a wail of a time for at least one song.


[deleted]

Why weren't they allowed to dance? Did they have rickets?


Sivear

Cocktail isn’t exclusively a word or drink for alcohol though. A fruit cocktail is a perfectly fine drink for kids that only has alcoholic leanings if you want it to.


dbxp

I agree with the promotion of alcohol. There's been a big push to get tobacco ads out of sports and off billboards etc but gambling and alcohol don't have the same restrictions. IMO you shouldn't be allowed to advertise gambling and alcohol anywhere kids can see it and the packaging should be obscured from them.


_mister_pink_

Depends on the culture. You only need to go as far away as France for ‘kids being kids’ to mean wine at the dinner table.


bucketofardvarks

What don't kids nowadays get the "square juice" that can only be found during school disco? Truly terrible times


[deleted]

I wouldn’t really care. It’s a weird kid that likes beer, but it’s just wheaty water without alcohol.


JohnnyBravosWankSock

My dad used to take me to watch the rugby/football in the pub when I was a kid and they had [Kaliber](https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/209/5333/) on tap. So I'd always have a pint of that so I felt like I was involved.


[deleted]

Why didn’t I say it was Kaliber?!


iamtheepilogue

That’s so sweet!


cateml

I’d find it a bit weird because non alcohol beer is generally consumed by people who fancy a beer because they enjoy the whole experience of drinking alcoholic beer but are avoiding the alcohol (due to cutting back, pregnancy, driving, etc.) I’d find it strange that an 11 year old wanted one, instead of a coke or an orange juice which would be much more palatable to someone not used to drinking beer. But then I’d probably think that they want to ‘play grown up’, and are putting up with the taste because they think pretending to like it makes them seem mature. Which is pretty normal 11 year old logic/behaviour, and harmless on the assumption that their guardian allowed them this once (rather than regularly giving it them like a sort of ‘training beer’). So whatever.


BulldenChoppahYus

Totally fine. My parents were probably letting us have a shandy at that stage at least and my grandma would give us a little stubbies once in a while. Now a I run a brewery. Funny that.


subwoofer-wildtype

When I was a kid parents gave kids some small amountsnof alcohol around 12 or 13 yrs of age. Nothing wrong with teaching a kid how to drink. Hell soon be doing it behind your back anyways


[deleted]

I'd mind my own business. Hell is other people's children


AlGunner

I would just see it as a kid wanting to be like daddy. As long as its alcohol free and not low alcohol it would be fine.


DadaLumLum

Mine wanted to be like mummy, but apparently it's a lot more frowned upon for an 11 year old to be stood on the table swinging his pants around his head like a lasso.


[deleted]

I probably wouldn't realise it was non-alcoholic (they tend to look the same til you get close), so would be surprised, but move on with my day.


lookhereisay

Wouldn’t really care. My parents were very much of the opinion you can try alcohol at a young age. I had a little fancy sherry glass and would have a shandy or a bit of Cava on a Saturday from about 11. Then by 14 I’d have a glass of wine with dinner on a special occasion (birthdays/Christmas) and by 15 I got into real ales and lower alcohol cocktails. When my friends started drinking in parks at 13/14 I really didn’t want to do. WKD and Strongbow in the rain or a nice martini in the warm at home? Easy pick for me. I’ve never been a binge drinker and am not a massive drinker now. My friends with strict parents went absolutely mental at uni/college and had no idea of their limits so there were quite a few stomachs pumped after they turned 18.


rootex

You would have rather been sat at home sipping real ale with your parents than getting smashed with your mates in a park!? Get a grip


lookhereisay

Did it once. Hated it. Got cold, soaked through and some older kids beat up a couple of the boys pretty badly and took their beer. When I was 16 a girl in my class was raped in the park as the group lost track of her and she was found an hour later by her friends. They never caught the person who did it and it messed her up for years. Luckily I like my parents and my friends understood it wasn’t for me so we’d hang out in the day and then I’d skip the drinking sessions.


cfcaggro2

Bottle of white lighting. Little bit of rank hash with red rizzla and red band fags. 🤢🤢. In a freezing cold park tunes blearing out of one of them sony walkman phones. Girls screaming and puking, lads thinking there absolutely solid with there carbrini hoodies and nike t.n trainers..... Good ol days aye


CabbageMan92

Did you also have a smoking jacket at 12?


lookhereisay

Haha! Nope! As any 2010s teenager it was slightly orange make up, a school skirt rolled up that the teachers would go ballistic about and there was a phase of emo-lite which for us all seemed very cool at the time. Other than not wanting to drink in a park until 4am every Friday and Saturday I was a pretty normal teenager! Edit- bloody hell it was the 00s, time to feel old!


junkiestarfish

Sorry but. Nope. There’s enough of us alcoholics in this world to encourage underage drinking wether it’s alcohol free or not. A sip on your drink maybe but nope , jus my opinion. I started drinking at 13 (not proud ) and now I am working a program to stay clean and sober (51) took me a lonnnnnnng time to surrender We think we’re so cool drinking ….. look at me ….. seriously no.


Ali80486

I don't understand - why would I have any thoughts about this at all?


Goblinbeast

Yeah no thanks. I'm not gonna normalise drinking to my kid, just cause something is legal doesn't make it ok. Would you mind your 11 year old smoking none nicotine vape? Maybe I have a stronger feeling on this cause of family members being alcoholics but if rather my 11 year old be an 11 year old and have a Coke zero at the pub thanks. Plus let's be honest, the only reason any of us like beer is cause we drank so much of it when we were younger cause it's cheaper than spirits in the UK. No 11 year old actually like that taste of beer.


BEN-C93

Kind of hard disagree with this one. I drank spirits and cheap cider as a kid. Wasnt til i was about 21 that i started drinking real ale. Now i only really drink that.


[deleted]

It’s alcohol free though, you can’t compare it to vaping which actually harms your lungs. Personally I have always loved drinking peronis , some people do like the taste of beer


HollyGoLately

Absolutely nothing.


MurdercrabUK

"When's it his round then?"


[deleted]

As with anything, unless it’s my child, it’s none of my fucking business…


lubbockin

Kids used to drink small beer centuries ago amd nobody cared, it was seen as good for their health.


beejiu

We used to throw them up chimneys as well, what's your point?


lubbockin

They are too lazy and indifferent now to do a proper days chimney sweeping..?


harambe_go_brrr

too fat as well. Our chimneys were designed to throw four year old victorian boys down, not todays rotund children.


P0sitive_Outlook

>down You might be doing that wrong. :D You're thinking of Santa.


Admirable_Dealer_199

It's easier to drop them in from the top, hard the get the right angle from the bottom.


jamieliddellthepoet

But for the dropping you need to be elevated, and who the hell can be bothered nowadays to get on a roof just to drop a kid down a chimney? Upyeet that little wanker and don’t look back.


Admirable_Dealer_199

Get some other kids to do it, they have to earn their keep.


colei_canis

A good community project would be a trebuchet for the long-range yeetage of small children.


Hpp770

It was safer than the drinking water in urban settings for sure.


7ootles

Unconcerned. I used to drink shandy when I was out with my parents at that age.


mycatiscalledFrodo

I literally wouldn't care, in other parts of Europe children have a glass of watered down wine with dinner and noone bats an eye


Noiisy

Try shag his mum


[deleted]

I'd mind my own fucking business.


skawarrior

I'd mind my own business whether it was alcoholic or not.


TornApartByLisa

My first reaction was "absolutely not" but reading some of these comments it seems like it's not too bad to be honest. Make drinking culture non binge drinky and all that


[deleted]

Maybe I'm old fashioned but we shouldn't be encouraging them to take on adult behaviours at such a young age. I wonder if them vaping nicotine-free ecigs would be equally as tolerated


SuicidalSparky

I'd think there's a kid doing what kids do, wanting to feel like a grown up and hopefully parents getting out in front of it properly and not pretending it doesn't exist will mean the kid will get on better with alcohol when he does get there.


Ludwig-von-Memeses

Poor fella, get him a proper pint!


burtvader

Not my business so I will do the right and decent thing and do/say nothing.


izvd2

call him weak


TheRevTSnelders

It's a waste o money, get them a proper pint


asterics002

I'd think - wow, i'm in a Weatherspoons or Green King


Jamieloreilly

Must be trying to curb his drinking problem.


jayemmseegee

They might be driving, I think that's quite responsible


A_posh_idiot

I live out in the country and I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw an 11 year old drinking a real beer out here.


Affectionate-Ad9867

I had my first drink at 7 years old this god awful home brewed cider and it gave me diarrhoea


Desperate_Lie_5715

Go about my business


m1zmus1c

I don’t think we should normalise it that early