Violent games turn kids into killers, too, y'know.

Today's post is brought to you by the letters C, N, and N again, courtesy of this link.

Underage drinking has always been an interesting subject with me.  Neither of my parents are particularly heavy drinkers.  Occasionally, my dad may have a rum and coke at home; more commonly, if we go out to eat at Ruby Tuesday, he'll order one of their tall glasses of beer.  Sporadically, he and my mom will go to tastings at one of the various number of wineries in the area.  That's about it.  I can likely count on one hand the number of times I've seen either of my parents severely intoxicated.  My sister, on the other hand, is a heavy drinker.  There was a point where she would completely shitfaced every night, which led to a lot of anger and stress and yelling and needless drama.  The worst of that -seems- to have passed, though I'm not ready to swear to that just yet.

So, underage drinking.  Obviously, I have no idea what went on with my parents back in their younger days, but given that my dad joined the Navy fresh out of high school (... I think?), I'd assume he had at least a few drinks before the age of 21.  My sister... well, who knows about her.  I wouldn't put it past her.  A lot of people make an association between underage drinking and alcohol abuse/addiction, and I don't think that's fair.  Other countries have significantly lower age requirements for drinking, and as far as I know, there haven't been reports of mass alcohol-induced chaos from any of them.  ... Except, maybe, for Ireland, but that's a different story.  One of my friends/ex-co-workers took a trip abroad for a notable amount of time, and he drank freely while he was there.  It didn't change anything about who he is, or his behavior, except that he complained more about the US's age limit for a while.

One of the key questions at the heart of this matter is whether allowing children to experience alcohol before the age limit is more beneficial or damaging.  The answer, I think, is pretty simple - it depends entirely on the person, and on the environment that is created for them.  I can freely admit that my parents let me taste wine, champagne, and beer long before I was even 18.  The first experience was almost nondescript, and the latter two only reinforced my line of thinking that they weren't for me.  In this situation, the experience was a positive one - I was able to learn from the experience in a safe, controlled environment.  It was more than a bit different in the neighborhood I grew up in, though.  One kid's parents' were of the mindset "Whatever, he'll do it somewhere if we say no, what's the point", and gave him free access to all of their alcohol.  Irresponsible?  You bet.  On more than one occasion, when I went to hang out with the group of kids, they reeked of beer and other alcohol, and I found myself infuriated at their inebriation.  Drinking, to them, became just another thing to do - almost like a game.  It didn't take long for me to cut all of my ties to them, swiftly and completely.  Those ties are still cut today.

I don't think introducing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 is necessarily a bad thing - but ONLY in the right manner, and ONLY in a safe, controlled environment.  The key point, also, is that it should be an introduction; an experience to learn from.  Once it becomes a habit, it's already gone too far.

Just for shits and giggles, here, have a very loosely-related Calvin and Hobbes comic that I enjoy.  It's a bit bigger than I would have liked, but otherwise you can't read it, and it's useless.

And I'll bet Calvin never wanted to smoke again.