I had my first drink(and it was only a sip) when i was 16 i think. I hated it. So I didn't touch another one until i was over 18. My mum hated alcohol. Reason being due to her mother being an alcoholic and never being there to care for her, always dumped her off with her brother. Her brother is also an alcoholic. No idea where he is these days, no idea if he is even still alive... She didn't want me turning into them(and for good reason) so she did not allow alcohol in our home. i think the only reason she did allow me to have a sip of alcohol when i was 16 because her friend offered it to me and kept saying, oh come on, its only a sip, blah blah blah. Being a 16yo, if you've given permission, are you going to say no? After that i did not have another drink until about 2 months after i turned 18, because i was pregnant with DD on my 18th. I was still pregnant when i had the drink(a ****tail) but only had a sip as it made me really sick after that. So my next drink wasn't until i was nearly 19 i think. Anyway, my point is, if you don't allow your teenager to drink, that does not mean they will try and go behind your back or will go wild when they can get their hands on it. Yes, some teens do do this. But i don't think they have been taught about the responsibilities of drinking. Giving them sips here and there at home, to me, is not teaching them responsible drinking. It's basically letting them brag to their friends, oh my parents let me drink all the time, yadda yadda! At that age they're not going to care about responsibility at all. It just seems so wrong. Therefore, i will not be letting any of our children a drop of alcohol until they are 18.