Bah, the EU is increasingly becoming puritanistic

[Sikander]

Originally posted by DeathByTheSword
a couple of years ago i would have been outraged but because of my length i could by beer when i was 14 so no problem here...

How long a d!ck do you need to be able to buy alchohol while still underage. Here in the states there are men that will give you alchohol for free if you show them your d!ck.

[Dinner]

Maybe he was talking about the length of his arms.

[our_man]

Leaked details from a separate report, due to be unveiled at the conference on Tuesday, are expected to show that Ireland has moved to the top of the European league for youth drinking.

Seriously though, what should be our national shame in being a nation of alcoholics has become a matter of national pride. As an Irishman abroad I am often expected to live up to the Irish hellraising reputation of being able to down 10 pints in a night. Naturally I'm greeted with surprise when I tell people I don't drink beer.

Raising the drinking age will do nothing to curb the problem of underage drinking. What we have to do is stop glamorizing it in certain parts of Europe. In Italy it is absurdly easy to get cheap drink no matter what your age is, and everyone indulges in a glass of wine. But that's as far as they take it, as it is considered socially unacceptable to get drunk in these countries.

Youth drinking can only be dealt with by changing the values of society, not bringing in more laws that will be flouted.

[Odin]

Originally posted by our_man

Youth drinking can only be dealt with by changing the values of society, not bringing in more laws that will be flouted.

[Atahualpa]

Well that is what they try to do. Only that laws are the wrong way to change the behavior of a society.

[Dr Strangelove]

I thought that drinking was a routine part of the family table in Europe? Don't most European Kids get introduced to wine or beer in early childhood?

[Dauphin]

There is a difference between drinking a drink or two with family and drinking with your mates in a boozer.

I would guess that the latter is the target of the law.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I thought that drinking was a routine part of the family table in Europe? Don't most European Kids get introduced to wine or beer in early childhood?

Err, over here, we don't give wine to toddlers you know

[Dauphin]

Why waste good wine on toddlers when they can have cheap vodka or whiskey.

[Spiffor]

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Spiffor

Err, over here, we don't give wine to toddlers you know

Actually I didn't know. What is the traditional age at which a Eurpean family would allow the kids to have wine with dinner? How will the law take custom into account?

[Spiffor]

Well, Europe is diverse enough so that I cannot give you anything precise. I guess we have some cultures that are more prudish in this regard than others.

From my experience (French family and friends that could be drinking), parents initiate to wine after 10, if they do it at all. Often, parents have a strict "no alcohol" policy for their children until they're 14 or something. But this experience comes from a very limited sample. It may be very different in other French provinces, or in other social classes.