Are there places in the US where it’s legal for a parent to give their own minor kid alcohol? I’ve heard of people that let their kid have wine at dinner or a dad who turns a blind eye to his son having some beers in the basement. But I’ve never heard about the legality of this. I would not be surprised if it varied from state to state.
It is legal in many states. New Jersey is one of them.
Allowing Minors to Drink in your Home and New Jersey Law.
The statute however creates several exceptions. It allows the parent or guardian of an underage individual to provide their own underage child alcohol inside their home. It also permits the service of alcohol to an underage person in their home if it involves a religious observance or ceremony
According to this article, there are 29 states that allow such.
NY it’s legal with parents.
Also in Scotland, it’s legal for kids to have drinks in a restaurant as long as an adult is with them. That adult does not have to be their parent, or even related to the kid.
I’m in WI, it’s legal here as well. If you’re under 21 but with your parents (or 21+ spouse, IIRC) you can drink as long as the bar owner/licensee is okay with it.
ETA, from WI
No person may procure for, sell, dispense or give away any alcohol beverages to any underage person not accompanied by his or her parent, guardian or spouse who has attained the legal drinking age.
Note, it uses the term ‘underage’ not ‘minor’, otherwise a 17 year old could drink with their parents, but an 18 year old can’t.
You can in TX, including in a restaurant.
It’s legal in a majority of places.
This map hasn’t been updated since 2007(!) but it’s a good illustration. This is consumption age, purchase is uniformly 21.
In practice it varies, from being rather widely accepted in Wisconsin to in other states maybe someone who is celebrating their high school graduation with parents can have a singular glass of wine. The law and what restaurants and bars tolerate are different things.
I think only at home, though; not out in a restaurant or such.
When I grew up in NY many decades ago, it was common for parents to allow beer at an older teenager’s birthday party. The parties were supervised and nobody was allowed to drive. I think that’s better than a no-tolerance policy, which leads to the teens drinking somewhere else, then driving home.
Legal in Wyoming and South Dakota; in SD I had to have my then-wife buy drinks for me when I was 20…
I allowed my kids to drink so that they wouldn’t ever treat it like some forbidden, rebellious thing they weren’t allowed to do. Seemed to have worked to mostly curb any desire to get wasted any time they had the opportunity.
Depends what you mean by “older teenager” - back when the drinking age was 18, I didn’t know any parents who actually allowed beer at a 16 or 17 year old’s party ( There absolutely was beer - whether the parents knew about/allowed it is something different )
Pretty much every friend I knew had beer at their 16th birthday party, FWIW. That seemed to be the line drawn. I never saw it allowed for anyone younger.
My parents said I could drink when I was under 14. I tried beer, didn’t like it. This was long ago.
My parents always let us have wine at special dinners (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) The laws in most Canadian provinces, AFAIK, also allow alcohol to be served to an underage person at a restaurant when accompanied by their parent or guardian (but AFAIK, not just with any adult). It appareas the same applies in assorted US states. Never happened with my folks, though.
The other considerations - it is illegal for a minor to be in a bar so no issue there. It is illegal to provide alcohol to minors (with the exception of guardian) so allowing beer for a party of 16 year olds is not allowed (unless all the parents are there too… which sounds like a bit of a damper.
There’s also the issue of drunk driving. I believe in Ontario a driver under 18 (19?) is not allowed to blow any alcohol reading at all in a roadside stop. Plus, the person providing alcohol may be liable in the event that the underage person causes an accident, same as in the USA - something which may dissuade restaurant owners from providing alcohol - for them it’s not just liability, the restaurant could lose their liquor license even if other legal repercussions don’t happen.
But yes, I remember a large number of high school parties and event where beer was available, although hidden from responsible adults. (Memories of someone’s green beer puke mess on the sidewalk on St. Patricks day nightime…)
Rhode Island has an exception for parents to allow their children to consume alcohol in their home. When I was growing up there were parents that allowed their children to consume alcohol at parties, and sometimes providing it. Turns out my father didn’t really care if I was drinking beer as a teenager as long as I wasn’t smoking pot or taking other drugs. I was doing all those things and drinking hard liquor though. It was pretty easy because I looked old enough to purchase the alcohol and drugs were readily available at school. So I could get everything for free by acting as the intermediary. A number of my ‘clients’ were over 18 but the drinking age was 21 in PA. And it was easy to do the purchasing because people weren’t carded regularly and I had a beard and looked what was considered ‘old enough to drink’. DUI wasn’t considered a big deal then either. I know someone who ran off the road in his car, the police spotted him and helped him get back on the road, suggesting he drive home slowly.
Sometime around 1980 the people that lived up the street from my parents home let their kids have a party where the kids were drinking. One kid ended up unconscious on their driveway and somebody backed over them with a car and killed them. Very bad times followed for them.
I think the laws are overly stringent to some degree. Young people will find alcohol and drink no matter what the laws are. They need to avoid binge drinking at parties and learn to drink moderately, not drive, and take other steps to remain safe. Making all consumption of alcohol up to age 21 isn’t working in that regard.
If by ‘kids’ you mean 16 or 17 year olds, yes. No younger, only with food and I don’t think they’re allowed spirits.
It seems like you are correct on both accounts. As for 5 and older this seems to apply (which looks like parents or even an adult, is not needed:
" In England, Scotland and Wales, it’s not illegal for someone between the ages of five and 17 to drink alcohol at home or on other private premises."
Yes that’s true. It’s not routine though!
Here in Canada, there appears to be no provincial laws about underage kids drinking at home with their parents. Mom and Dad always let us kids try their drinks, which, at age ten were pretty blecch. Wine and beer were bad enough, but gin-and-tonics? Double blecch! But that was always at home.
My Dad belonged to a fancy private club, and we went to its dining room many times. I was very surprised on one occasion when Dad ordered his usual wine, and said, “And a glass for Spoons too.”
“Umm … Dad? I’m only 17.”
“You’re old enough by my estimation.”
And the waiter brought a glass, and I had wine with dinner. Mind this was Ontario, when the age was 18, so I wasn’t far off anyway.
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a clearly underaged kid drinking in a restaurant with his parents, although I’ve heard that it does happen. For that matter, I don’t know of any families that let their kids drink beyond maybe a sip of their parent’s drink. This is growing up and now that I’m a parent.
Is that common elsewhere in the US? I’m aware that some European cultures do have kids drink diluted wine with dinner and that kind of thing, but AFAIK it’s not a common US thing.
Me either, but you absolutely can.