Is It Actually Legal In Texas For Minors To Get Drunk With Their Parents?
We all remember that one friend in high school that had the "cool mom" who would buy their teenagers beer on a Friday night. As much as I wished for it when I was young, my folks never permitted anything like that. Like most teenagers, I snuck sips of things when nobody was looking.
So, is it actually truly legal for a teenager to twist off with their old man?
The short answer is, yes.
Even though the legal age to buy and drink alcohol in Texas is 21, minors are 100 percent permitted to drink while in the presence of their legal parent or guardian:
In Texas, a person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.
Minors are not, however, allowed to order their own drink or pay for it at a bar. Their folks have to take care of all of that themselves, and some businesses have their own policies for minors that state they are not allowed to drink at all.
It's basically case by case when you go out to a restaurant with your parents as to whether or not you would be allowed to have a beer. Public intoxication is still very illegal in Texas and businesses might not want to take a chance on losing their liquor license by serving a few beers to a scrawny kid who doesn't have much experience drinking and causes a ruckus. It doesn't matter if their parents are present for that or not. It's still totally illegal to be drunk in public.
At the end of the day, I'm kind of glad my parents didn't buy me alcohol. I figured it out myself eventually. I do sometimes wish America had the laws they have overseas and teenagers could hang out in pubs and have beers together without their parents around. That would have been fun and probably a much safer option than sneaking around and getting into trouble.
What do you think about the alcohol laws in Texas? Comment on our Facebook page if you agree or disagree with getting hammered with maw and paw.