I personally don't think all teens at 17 have the capacity of decide on a life-long career (and the majority might think they are but more often then not end up training for one thing and doing something completely different) Legally they may have the right, but mentally many are still too young at that age.

Like I've said, I don't have a problem with you raising your child the way you see fit, but I have a problem with you allowing someone else's child to drink under your roof - that's not your call to make. My family's home was also where all my friends came to drink - I thought I was wonderful that my parents were so open minded, and even while we all had issues with alcohol, because they provided us with a 'controlled' environment, they still believed they were being responsible parents. I respect their right to their opinion.

But I am not of the same opinion now, and that is my right as a parent to my kids. Teaching responsible alcohol intake ideally would be the domain of parents, but yes realistically that doesn't happen because the environment these days is such that teens' alcohol intake seems to governed by the opinions of their friends and their friends' more permissive parents. If every parent respected the boundaries set by other parents, being able to find someone's house to get trashed at would be less likely. Many of you said that in your own homes, you weren't allowed to get trashed, but give one parent the right to decide for someone else's child, and you're giving all parents the right to decide for someone else's child, and not all parents would be able to enforce such a limit.

I actually used to be a parent who believed that it didn't matter if my kids had one or two drinks at parties, but from the feedback from my kids in recent months, they never had one or two drinks, they got smashed. Everyone did. And some of the activities that go on in these parties (yes while the parents of the party-holder are in the house, watching TV in their room) would make your stomache turn. So as 'controlled' as you think you're going to be able to be, once your kids are out of your house, you have no more control. I am now a mother of an formerly addicted DD, and I post in here because while 9 out of 10 kids may not end up like her, I pray you're not the mother whose child is that 1 out of ten. Because it's not about how good a parent you are, it's about how easily the temptation is available for them.

The one thing I regret most is how complacent I was that everything was 'normal' and 'under control'. Yes kids will still drink, yes kids will still have sex, but I am not talking about complete abstinence, I'm talking about parents supporting other parents with regards to teaching responsible drinking. That, to me, is not age specific either.