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MatildaGirl
Talker
Joined: Nov 05, 2004
Posts: 107
Status: Offline
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  Posted:
Nov 06, 2004 - 09:47 AM |
 
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| Post subject: No minimum age limit for drinking alcohol in China |
I was quite shocked by the fact there is no minimum age limit for drinking alcohol in China. Do many expat kids take advantage and go out drinking/clubbing at an early age?
What about drug taking among teenagers? Is this a problem in Shanghai? |
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tnmom
LoopKicker
Joined: Mar 04, 2004
Posts: 880
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 06, 2004 - 02:42 PM |
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Yes and yes, but no more so than all over the world. Many expat parents allow their kids to go to the clubs in highschool - but definitely not all families. I think they feel that their kids are safe here and are not driving, so it's a better place to learn how to be responsible than in college back in their home countries. At least that's the logic that I've heard, but we haven't allowed our 10th grader to go.
From what I hear, all the schools here have had kids expelled for drugs. I recommend asking at each school what their drug policy is - the American School is very tough on drugs and has started a random testing program. |
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dek
Barker
Joined: Feb 09, 2004
Posts: 145
Status: Offline
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Nov 06, 2004 - 04:23 PM |
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I think I read that Shanghai Municipal Government and maybe some of the other major cities have recently introduced laws banning sale of alcohol to people under 18. However, probably as effective as the laws against satellite TV, intellectual propery theft, giving way to pedestrians...... |
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WendyCollins-Smith
Seeker
Joined: Oct 09, 2004
Posts: 62
Status: Offline
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Nov 06, 2004 - 07:12 PM |
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i had not even thought about this being a problem. Are there no age limits at all? |
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nicklar
Lurker
Joined: Aug 22, 2004
Posts: 39
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Nov 06, 2004 - 08:19 PM |
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As far as I know the drug problem seems to predominate from 2 or 3 schools in Puxi. Several students were kicked out of 2 schools and ended up at the third. Good if you think they deserve a second chance, bad if you thinks it sets a poor precedent. There is a well-known boy, now in a Chinese school, who was kicked out of two int'l schools for dealing. Apparently he still is.
A friend of mine sent her daughter back home to a boarding school because she was fed up with all of her daughter's friends (13 & 14 y.o.) going out to bars on the weekend. Once again they seemed to come from the same schools.
These were not such a problem a few years ago but has certainly proliferated as the expat population has grown. You just have to use the same parent wisdom as you would back home.
Of course the clincher is this. If your child is convicted of a serious enough offence the whole family will be asked to leave. Could obviously be a big dampener on one's career. This happened a couple of years ago to a kid who made a hoax bomb threat. |
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MatildaGirl
Talker
Joined: Nov 05, 2004
Posts: 107
Status: Offline
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Nov 07, 2004 - 07:31 AM |
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I think there are teenagers taking drugs at every school. In a expat community this is probably magnified as most of the families know each other. As far as bar visiting during the early teen years, this is something I will not allow my children to do. They would need to sneak out of the house if this were to happen. I hope none of my kids would be this stupid, because if caught, the consequences would be quite severe.
I think I will try to keep the kids busy by organising activities and club membership. If I wear them out too much, they won't have the energy to get up to too much mischief. |
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margarita
Reacher
Joined: July 13, 2004
Posts: 291
Status: Offline
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Nov 07, 2004 - 09:56 AM |
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the part of the world where i was born there is was also no age limit on alcohol yet none of us 6 children evern took advantage of and none of us are alcoholics.. my point is, if you raise your children right, with discipline,morals,principles and believes, they will do the right thing. This doesnt mean they will not try things (mostlikely they will although i never tried drugs) but they will know the difference between right and wrong. |
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jackyhan
Talker
Joined: Jan 03, 2004
Posts: 101
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Nov 07, 2004 - 10:05 AM |
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| MatildaGirl wrote: |
I think there are teenagers taking drugs at every school. In a expat community this is probably magnified as most of the families know each other. As far as bar visiting during the early teen years, this is something I will not allow my children to do. They would need to sneak out of the house if this were to happen. I hope none of my kids would be this stupid, because if caught, the consequences would be quite severe.
I think I will try to keep the kids busy by organising activities and club membership. If I wear them out too much, they won't have the energy to get up to too much mischief. |
yeah..you let them to join some activity culb in shanghai.like out door sports,that's healthy activiry,like hiking,mountain climbing,cycling,or a lot of ball games..that's better..
and we also will orgnise some activity at weekend,if u want,you can join us...that's very funny.=) |
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MatildaGirl
Talker
Joined: Nov 05, 2004
Posts: 107
Status: Offline
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Nov 08, 2004 - 08:25 PM |
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Thanks for the feedback. i am not really worried about the kids turning in alcoholics, just about being around unnecessary influences from an early age. The drinking age in Australia is 18, three years less than in the US. You just worry about your kids and try to keep them safe, without molly-coddling them. |
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B.Griffin
Lurker
Joined: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 23
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Nov 10, 2004 - 03:58 PM |
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18 is the legal drinking age in Australia. I did not even think about this being a problem until I visited this forum. Parents from the US, where the legal drinking age is 21, must find this particular difficult. |
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dannyboy
Raver
Joined: Sep 16, 2004
Posts: 484
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 10, 2004 - 04:09 PM |
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| Post subject: Too late folks |
Parents from the US should know better than to bring their kids here. The only people to be blamed for promoting the puritanical b.s. that Americans use as an excuse for their outrageous drinking age policies is themselves. Sorry stuff. Mind you, it doesn't seem to stop their fifteen-year-old sons and daughters from making it out -- in fine form, too, i'll add -- to the clubs every weekend. i was shocked to notice that the median age at pegasus the last time i was there was probably seventeen. a few 12 and 13-year-olds for sure.
As for drugs . . . you live in one of the biggest drug ports in the world. Just try and stop them. When you find your kid "chasing the dragon" in the washroom with his buddies, then complain about drugs. Don't get your knickers in a knot just because he scored a block of hash from a uiygur.
Good luck. I pray for your children. |
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B.Griffin
Lurker
Joined: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Nov 13, 2004 - 07:40 PM |
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DannyBoy
You seem quite emotional about the topic. Have you had many bad experiences with expat teenagers in Shanghai? |
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IamME
Rocker
Joined: May 23, 2004
Posts: 625
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 14, 2004 - 12:54 AM |
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Hmmm. you seem to have your drug references a little swapped arround, but okay.
Yeah you know, drugs and alcahol are everywhere. There's no place where you can expect the world to keep your kids from doing it. The best thing, it seems, is having a not just loving family, but one the child can relate to and therefore respects the opinions of. then establishing your stance on drugs and whatnot without clamping down in a way that will make them rebell against the injustice. If your kids love and respect you, and you make reasonable rules, they probably won't get out of hand, and that's about all you can ask for without danger of worse consequences.
As for the calling a bomb threat thing, it seems pertinent to make it clear to your children that getting in big trouble could get the family snet home and make you loose your job. this may be a serious enough consequence that it will keep them out of other trouble too, like drugs and such. No kid wants to bne responsible for making their family loose their house and source of income. lol.
Good luck. |
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BaDaXianRen
Low Seater
Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 3298
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Nov 21, 2004 - 06:34 AM |
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Doesnt seem like many of you have been inside of a boarding school lately. They are almost always hotbeds of drug and alchohol activity, as is practically any highschool/secondary school in the westernized world. Whether or not you allow them to go to clubs they will be going or getting into booze or drugs elswhere. I think that it is probably best to teach them to drink responsibly now than to try and eliminate any temptation as that approach will never be successful. Be glad they live in a safe place and cant drive. |
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