All of these kids who are drinking under age have parents or adult figures in their lives that have talked to them about it. Parents believe they know what is best for their children and in most cases this is true.

This is the story of a 17 year old, who because of his parents learned to drink responsibly even though he was underage. “The summer immediately after I had graduated high school my friend threw a party. I was 17 at the time. To my complete surprise, both his parents were in attendance and the very first thing all of us had to do was surrender our car keys to his mother, who promptly locked them somewhere in the house. All of us drank alcohol that night, and yes, some of us, including myself got drunk.
No one got completely out of control, no one vomited, no fights were started. For myself it was a lesson in pacing myself over the course of the night. I’m lucky in that my parents had the foresight and wisdom to realize that despite all their best intentions, they couldn’t absolutely stop me from drinking when I went away to college.
Being given that advice, my father sat me down one day with a 6 pack of beer and taught me to drink, to savor my drink, to enjoy it and to not chug it, binge-style. Sharing that six pack helped me to realize my limits later, when my parents weren’t around. All of this while I was under the age of 21.But there are exceptions, and they don’t always know what is best, and can end up being too controlling and putting their children in a position that is difficult to deal with. My parents wouldn’t let me go out to parties for the first few years of high school because they were worried about me drinking, and other people who are underage drinking. This prevented me from going to many social events, and having fun with my friends. But it also let me become a more responsible drinker by having been given a fair amount of advice, and I always took into consideration why parents didn’t want me to drink underage in the first place.
I have never been arrested for any offense, never started a fight while under the influence and never driven while under the influence. Should my father therefore still be condemned by society because technically what he did was illegal (providing alcohol to a minor)?
For many many years it has been a fundamental hypocrisy of this country that the United States will not blink an eye to put a gun in its children’s hands and send them half a world away to kill and be killed, yet that same child will not be served alcohol in a bar.