Reply #28: I agree completely... [View All]

[Withywindle]

I had this experience too - my parents always let me have a glass or two of beer or wine with dinner from when I was about 14 or 15 onward. My mom is from another country with, AFAIK, no strictly enforced legal drinking age--but even my very American dad's side of the family never blinked at the teenagers having a little wine with dinner either. I did become a binge drinker briefly in college, but the attraction passed quicly. I never saw the appeal of the massive kegger in any case.

Having a houseful of non-relative teenagers drinking under your watch is just asking for legal trouble, though -- which is a pity, because as has been pointed out, that IS the safest way for kids to learn to handle alcohol.

It's related in my mind to the damage caused by hysterically puritanical attitudes about sex: so the kid is supposed to magically know exactly how to handle it and what the right attitudes about it are the moment s/he reaches whatever arbitrary milestone is supposed to convey the grace of "permission" on them? It's like handing kids car keys on their 16th birthday without ever having taught them Drivers' Ed, in fact after having spent their entire lives trying to shield them from being exposed to cars and driving as much as possible to keep them "innocent" or keep them from wanting to imitate the "behavior."