Im probably another one who's going to be shot for her views LOL but oh well here goes... although no one wants their children to drink until they are mature age (if 18 year olds these days are even mature anyway) but seeing as im still young i've seen the current generation and also i know from my generation teenagers REBEL... the more you dont allow something the more curious they get and the more they want to do it especially behind your back. Lots of mothers *think* they know their teenagers and their teenagers make their parents believe that they never do anything their not allowed to. Been down this road with my sister.. she swore black and blue she didnt drink at parties only water.. stupidly my parents believed her.. turns out she was doing acid. Some parents can be really neive. I know from personal experience when your told not to do something your going to do it as a teenager. I've seen it with my own eyes, i was allowed to drink from the age of 14 i would go to parties and cause i wasnt needing to rebel against anything i would quite happily sit and drink a few drinks and enjoy my night and then there were the ones who's parents explicity said NO to drinking who would majorly wipe themselves out be vomitting in the corner, making an arse out of themselves and losing their virginity. And this is at parties even with parent supervision. Either way, you can't wrap your child in cotton wool, they WILL drink with or without your permission, i just think if the trust is there they can do it responsibly and like i said there's alot of 18 year olds who are more immature than 16 year olds. This post isnt meant to offend anyone or start a fight.. just a pov from a younger gneration who knows what teenagers get up to in our era...