When they were either out of my house, and doing as they pleased, or turned 21. Teens should not be drinking, and if your friends say they can, either there parents are horrible, or they are lying to try to make themselves look cool.

Well my daughter is only 2…
But my parents didn’t let me drink until I was of age (21), but when I moved away to college I drank underage at age 19 and 20. They didn’t know at the time, but they know now, and don’t really care because it’s in the past.

my mother would offer a wine cooler to me at the age of thirteen. she told me that she didn’t mind me drinking as long as i didn’t become an alcoholic and as long as i did not drink anywhere but home. my parents did not want me to drink outside of the house because of the risks; getting arrested, having someone slip drugs in my drink, being taken advantage of, etc. they wanted alcohol to be no big deal to me and i understand their reasoning, even though i’m sure most don’t. actually, their approach worked because i rarely drink and know when not to drink. i think a child should respect their parent’s wishes. if your parents don’t want you to drink, it’s cause they are trying to protect you.

we always had an open liquor cabinet in the house, and my parents had no qualms about letting me try booze…. they didn’t allow my brothers to drink at the same age though. i think it’s because they knew i wasn’t going to get blotto and do anything stupid. i was trying rum and vodka when i was 12. i had glasses of wine many years before that. i didn’t really drink to get drunk at that age. i just liked to try things, and have maybe a quarter to half glass of a drink. the only thing my dad did do was tell me “don’t drink that! that’s the cheap gin. here, grab the bombay sapphire instead.” lol. my parents were also kinda crazy (in a good way though)

When I was 17 they started letting me have a drink every Saturday night at home. I’m 18 now so I’m legally allowed to drink but there’s no point in ever overdoing it, you’ll just make a fool of yourself.

Edit: I agree with Lauren. My mum works in a Rehab centre and she has to do lots of update courses all the time. It’s true that letting your kids have one drink say every weekend makes them less likely to become alcoholics in the future because they learn that it’s not something you depend on and also that it’s not a big deal.

Look at France, they let kids as young as 12 have a glass of wine with their dinner and have the lowest rate of teenage binge drinking.

If parents don’t let their children/teens drink when growing up, it is very likely that they will go off the rails and be irresponsible with it when they can legally drink.