Underage drinking

[wotsit]

On the Mainland these drunken children are mainly from deprived areas, with no hope and families that don't care too much these children really do need help of kind adults to offer support to them .Some perhaps have given up on life.

 

On Shetland the underage drinkers are almost encouraged to go out by some, and it is deemed as acceptable by some parents and society despite their age.

Everybody is born equal but some are more equal than others.

 

Underage drinking is a huge problem on Shetland but for different reason than the rest of the country bar a few exceptions.

They do it because they can and for most no one is stopping them and it is becoming socially acceptable amongst a lot of parents and kids

The underage drinking in Shetland the highlight is where is the next party/event to get smashed many you could say from well to do better off families.

[Colin]

Surely, if underage(?) drinking is becoming "socially acceptable" amongst a lot of parents then, who are you to interfere?

 

Any parent who is concerned(?) that their son/daughter is drinking will take appropriate action whilst those that think it is OK will take no action. AFAIK, that is the way it has always been..

 

I'm afraid that you might have to take your "sensibilities" to places that are not frequented by "under age" drinkers..  Out of sight, out of mind etc...

[cuckoo]

I come from the mainland and as teenagers we went out and got drunk,now and then when we thought we could get away with it,or we managed to persued someone to go into the "OFFY" and buy us a bottle of cheap plonk.I by no means come from a wealthy family nor do i come from a deprived area .Please do NOT stereotype .Wish I was perfect,but hey ho, way back then same as now what teenagers are like .Lets not criticiize Right of passage ,we learn by our mistakes .And I still remember my so angry Mother battering me around the face with a wet dishcloth and my Father telling her to stop !!!! Oh yeah the next day all i did eat was an ice lolly.I do not want to be that 17yr old again

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

On the Mainland these drunken children are mainly from deprived areas, with no hope and families that don't care too much these children really do need help of kind adults to offer support to them .Some perhaps have given up on life.

 

On Shetland the underage drinkers are almost encouraged to go out by some, and it is deemed as acceptable by some parents and society despite their age.

Everybody is born equal but some are more equal than others.

 

Underage drinking is a huge problem on Shetland but for different reason than the rest of the country bar a few exceptions.

They do it because they can and for most no one is stopping them and it is becoming socially acceptable amongst a lot of parents and kids

The underage drinking in Shetland the highlight is where is the next party/event to get smashed many you could say from well to do better off families.

 

What an absolute load of hyperbole.

 

Change the law.  It never worked and never will.

[zebedee]

As the mother of two teenagers, IMO there is a lot less underage drinking than there was when I was a teenager.

 

'Becoming socially acceptable?' Haha. Nope, the parents probably don't have short memories, and remember what it was like when they (we?) were young. I don't think it is any more socially acceptable now than it was 30 years ago.

[wotsit]

Underage drinking is a huge problem in Shetland - obviously not to those who do wish to see it being highlighted in public, as it highlights bad parenting. It has everything to do with the public as these underage drinkers are at public events or on the streets not in their own homes drinking privately.

 

This is not just about rite passage, a rite of passage is an event in ones life NOT a whole social calendar covering a number of years and many events.

 

You will never completely stop it but certainly don't go around actively encouraging this sort behaviour in public.

 

What is the point of having laws if Shetland seem to think they can ignore them because it doesn't fit their children's social calendar.

 

It is illegal, the police should be doing more about it in public, and not turning a blind eye because they did it, with this kind of attitude what is the point of having any laws?

 

Maybe if few parents had to pick up their darlings from the police station word will soon get around make sure your kids are not drunk in public.

[George.]

Neither the parents or the police are doing their job here - and it's not the kids that need their arses kicked black and blue     

[whalsa]

I am not convinced this is any more of a "problem" in Shetland than it is anywhere else. 

As far as I can tell it is no different from how it has always been. When you are 16 you can be married, pay taxes, have bairns so of course people that age are going to feel like they should be allowed to drink. 

Learning how to drink responsibly is part of growing up. There is no epidemic here as some seem to be suggesting. If parents want to allow their teenagers to have a dram at New Year then that is up to them. 

[Colin]

I am not convinced this is any more of a "problem" in Shetland than it is anywhere else. 

 

As far as I can tell it is no different from how it has always been. When you are 16 you can be married, pay taxes, have bairns so of course people that age are going to feel like they should be allowed to drink. 

 

Learning how to drink responsibly is part of growing up. There is no epidemic here as some seem to be suggesting. If parents want to allow their teenagers to have a dram at New Year then that is up to them. 

Exactly.....

 

More to the point;

 

Any 'Law' that is imposed against the will of the (possible) majority of the population is a 'bad' law..

 

If that wasn't bad enough, we also have to deal with these 'gems' from, largely, un-elected busybodies;

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35209597

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35211341

 

I also wonder who is going to 'take up the slack' if we were all to stop smoking/drinking etc..  I'm pretty sure that the government would have to increase taxes in other areas in order to plug the shortfall in tobacco/alcohol duty and VAT.

[thumper1]

Cast your minds back to when you wir young.... wir you never da worse for wear for drink?? Give da young eens a break, far better dey hae a dram dan drugs

[wotsit]

Apart from the fact little off topic underage drinking which is what we are discussing, not adult drinking legal drinking 18yrs and over.

The NHS would in a better position not dealing the health associated with drinking and smoking.

If you didn't drink and smoke you would have something more productive to do with your time.

[wotsit]

alcohol is a drug and addictive one at that.

Many of these children are hardened drinkers by time they reach 18 but when you got Up Helly Aa suppose that is what Shetland wants and encourages

[zebedee]

'Don't go around actively encouraging this sort of behaviour in public'

OK 1) who is encouraging it?
2) what behaviour?

Blame the parents all you like, I don't know about you though, but I lied to my parents. 'No, I'm not going to the cross for new year, I'm going to a party'. And who can remembers da fort at midsummer? Anyone complaining about 'kids now' did not experience 'kids then'.

So wotsit, where are you seeing all this underage drinking in public? How often? How many kids? What is the behaviour that you find an issue? What are you doing to address the issue, other than having a pleepse online?

Edited January 2, 2016 by zebedee

[wotsit]

Its underage drinking every week of the year, its not about odd drink ,odd party kids have got drunk.

It actively encouraged on Shetland by parents who ignore it and the police.

Seems to me many of the parents on Shetland don't want to do anything about it and decided that alcohol isn't a problem.

These kids as someone else said are not just having odd dram at New Year they are well used to downing a couple bottles regularly.

It is the fact they are actively encouraged to get plastered.

Of course some kids are going to push boundaries and lie and get caught drunk or having few and parents should advise and pull them into line you can accept that is someone said a rite of passage - but when kids are regularly going drinking that is not any kind of rite passage. Its dangerous it's illegal and downright irresponsible and yes its down to the parents and police to make a stance.

You cannot keep trying to justify regular drinking underage and think its alright and in Shetland underage drinking is out of control and it doesn't matter how you dress it up or try explain it.

Shetland should be very concerned.

[zebedee]

I'm not justifying it - but I have yet to see any evidence that the perception that you have is any way close to the truth.

 

I don't see parents actively encouraging their children to get drunk. The parent of teenagers that I know allow their kids some drink for occasions, but actively encourage them to drink sensibly. I know more than one parent to have been really pissed off with their teenager that drank way more than they should have.

 

My teenagers go out way less than I ever did at that age. We had country discos galore, not to mention heading out to the North Star and the Excelsior with fake id.

 

Maybe the difference is, id is harder to fake so the drinking is more likely to be in public? I don't know, but in my experience, there is less of a 'problem' now than there was when I was young.

 

But wotsit, you still haven't said where you are seeing all these drunk kids in public? I have to be curious as to why you are hanging around where they are...