Birthdays can be the best day or the worst day.
Some years birthdays are just another day because nothing comes with them but others are a significant milestone in one’s life. Especially when it means in society you are finally legal to drink in public.
The 21st birthday is the most anticipated birthday of them all. It is when all the weekends of sneaking alcohol and lying to parents finally come to an end. There is no need to wait until parents go to bed to drink but rather drink with them.
Although being 21 comes with many new perks and privileges. Does that mean that drinking with parents becomes okay? Should kids feel comfortable drinking alongside their parents?
“I think kids should drink with their parents. It teaches them responsibility and limits,” Jess Palatucci, a sophomore accounting major, said. “Kids will not get black-out drunk around their parents.”
Drinking is supposed to be fun.
College is the time where students have weekends they do not remember, drink too much and do it again the next weekend.
Should that drinking carry on to when people drink with their parents?
When teenagers drink with their parents it is not the same as when they are out with their friends. It is a different feeling; teenagers go out with friends to get drunk not to casually drink. Drinking with friends is for excitement and spontaneity, while drinking with parents is casual and relaxing.
“Since I am of age I feel comfortable having a few drinks with my parents at home,” Ali Fiorelli, a senior math major, said. “My parents are not huge drinkers so I would only have a couple drinks.”
How parents drink at home affects the way kids drink around them. When parents drink more at home it makes kids want to drink less because it is not forbidden. If parents do not drink that often kids find it more appealing and more of a necessity. The thrill of getting away with drinking with friends is a huge accomplishment.
Teenagers have been drinking with friends since they were 16 or 17. The excitement is still there, but drinking with parents is a whole new experience. It is a new boundary being crossed that is exciting and unknown.
Some people think that drinking with parents is too much and not something that is necessary. Parents are parents and some kids feel uncomfortable letting their parents see them drink. Some students would rather leave drinking for a thing to do with friends.
“I think casual drinking is fine but getting drunk with your parents is weird and crossing the line,” Devon Rink, a sophomore at Cairn University, said.
It is a new state of mind when drinking is involved. People are not themselves, and having parents see that can be a bit unsettling. Even though being 21 means someone is legal to drink, it does not mean parents no longer have a say.
Being 21 and able to drink openly is a huge weight lifted off one’s shoulder. While at the same time can be a very touchy subject when it comes to sharing that ability with parents.
