In minority homes and communities, children are children for a very short time.
Adolescents party WITH adults almost from the time they are old enough and sometimes sooner.
This does not change... people of all ages party together... and sometimes very young pre teens are not excluded. Even if they don't drink, they are still present.
The adult behavior, society of adults, music, etc. is part of their childhood...such as it is.
I always found this strange.
I’ve seen that too.
We all as youths attempt to change the culture to our liking (”Turn that damned noise DOWN up there!” But where traditional values are strong, adults socialize their children into traditional norms, and only after we leave home are we really allowed to exploit our own desires (college life, for example). But by that time we’re supposed to be “young adults” with more or less functioning brains that are capable of forming good judgements and knowing good from bad.
This is not the case when a child is 4 or 6 or 9. In the absence of goo parental guidance, who can blame the kids for following the examples they see and are surrounded by?
This is just another manifestation of the destruction of the American Family, and the Black Family in particular. And what started that is another thread...
Another observation on this point. Often when you see a crime reported in the newspaper, the criminals are 15, 16 and 24 or the like. I did not know any 24 year olds who wanted to hang out with 15 year olds when I was growing up unless they were total losers.
Interesting. I lived in a lovely beach community when my kids were teens. Everyone knew everyone, and parties included kids as well as grandparents. It was delightful. But then, we were a polite and educated bunch. We were not handing alcohol to the kids, however, they saw adults drinking. Whose kids don't?
Maybe my definition of "party" is different from yours?