"read on the life of Robert Downey Jr. who blames his father for giving him drinks and marijuana in young age."

And for every one of those there must be two or three who blame their same problems on being told that such things were absolutely forbidden.

There are no hard and fast rules on the cause of alcoholism, but I know that while in our house alcohol was never considered a big thing, all three of us grew up NOT to be alcoholics. But I had a dozen friends from our very "religious" community who all became alcoholics or at least let alcohol and/or drugs control them. One of those was a good friend who was forbidden to see me after his parents saw my parents come out of a regular restaurant where they served alcohol. His parents felt our family must be totally sinful. His freshman year in college when he was away from them, he started binge drinking, flunked out of school (he was our class valedictorian) and his life remains an alcoholic blur. If such a big thing hadn't been made about alcohol in his early years, would he have turned out differently? Who knows, but I've always suspected it was that "forbidden fruit" that called to him.

Boy am I confused.

Above I saw this statement:
". . . Most children at that time in France were drinking water with their meals, except on Sundays. In any case, drinking pure wine at the age of 9 would have been completely irresponsible from a pediatric standpoint. Bravo for those who survived. Plenty did not."


How does this make any sense? Since this same poster has already said that if ANY person said that at age 9 they were given wine then they are a liar, what on earth is he talking about when he says "Bravo for those who survived?" Doesn't that sound like even he is saying some kids did drink wine?

It's always amazing how some people will quickly say something can't possibly be true, then indicate it is true when such an admission fits his own purposes.

Better learn to read, Neo. I said "liar or family of alcoholics" regarding drinking PURE wine at age 8. I never said anything against watered down wine. As we have ruled out the liar part of starrsville's BIL (known as a "beauf" in France so I am not surprised at his statements -- those who speak French will understand), I guess we'll have to go with the family of alcoholics. Generations of French alcoholics have always claimed that "wine is not alcohol."

But since the point of this thread seems to be to promote drinking alcohol at a very young age, I say let's skip the wine altogether and get the kids to drink cognac or scotch directly. After all, 2 glasses of wine have the same amount of alcohol as a shotglass of whiskey.

That is it. One again you have called a family you know nothing about "alcoholic" - simply because you can see past your own ignorance.

For your sake, and mine on this board, please do not direct any comments to me on this board. Thank you in advance.

"Ignorance" would be to ignore medical information on the effect of alcohol on various age groups. This is directed at everybody except Starrsville.

BTilke, we don't live that far from each other. I live in West Norriton, PA, which is just a short drive from Lansdale.

Where do you live now?

Did you ever go to the Kutztown Fair? Shop at the Whitehall Mall?

My DIL went to Cedar Crest College for nursing, but left to go to Penn State. That is where she met my son. Now they live in Denver.

What a small world, huh?

Giving alcohol to children is criminal. Literally. I wish I had some of your addresses so I could call the cops on you. SHAME SHAME SHAME on the child abusers on this forum.

I bet the OP doesn't have any children of her own. I have two.

Christine Gonos

My parents were born in Italy and like most Italian children, we had watered down wine with our main meal. I don't remember when it was served to me full strength.

I was in the third grade when I had my first sip of wine. It was during my first communion at the Catholic Church. I took a sip of wine every Sunday years after.

Starrsville, Just wanted to quickly say (before this whole dialog gets pulled!) I'm sorry your fascinating post took such a sour turn so quickly...but at least you have created another classic thread.

For the record, I had sips of wine starting around 10 from my British father and Southern mother. Full glasses by 14.

I believe in the forbidden fruit theory but also believe some people have addictive personalities and some don't.

I was just mentioning to my DH how interesting this post thread is and he had an intersting observation...

Part of the alcohol problem with the youth in the US is that we are a country of excess, not moderation. For example, big cars, big houses, MTV cribs, 'my super sweet 16', big TV's, everything is over the top... as opposed to Europe where moderation is the cultural paradigm. Therefore it is not just about prohibiting alcohol consumption. Until American culture changes, simply allowing kids access to alcohol won't likely prevent heavy alcohol use or abuse.