There already are states where it's legal for minors to drink under parental supervision, but if memory serves me properly, it has to be their own parents and they have to be at home. In other words, a party situation with a bunch of underage kids and just one host parent wouldn't be considered legal.

And then there's states like mine at the extreme opposite of the spectrum, where a minor taking the recycling to the curb that happens to contain a beer bottle or can constitutes possession of an open container and can land them in jail, never mind the fact that said bottle/can is empty. Along the same lines, the sober drivers here have to be over the age of 21, or getting pulled over with a drunk person in your car could be considered possession of an open container as well (though this is rarely enforced, as this is a college town and the police here would much rather give out a DUI than try to crack down on underage sober drivers).

Personally, I'm a fan of how Germany handles youth and alcohol. Instead of trying to keep it away entirely, they try to slowly introduce them to alcohol, though I'd suggest higher ages than Germany uses.

I'd suggest 16, 18, and 21, respectively, and follow up with tighter restrictions on testing for drivers' licenses at 16 (I don't know about other states, but you only need a 75% on your written and practical exams to get a license, which I think is far too low to pass someone... even missing several small things, or one "big" thing, it's easy to get over 85% on the practical). I know that teens and driving is already a concern, and alcohol certainly wouldn't help, but if a 16-year-old actually has to try in order to get a license, coupled with alcohol consumption only under parental supervision, then drunk teen driving shouldn't be a huge issue (at least this way, a parent could be a sober driver instead of a teen illegally drinking and trying to drive themselves home so mom and dad don't find out they've been partying).

The main reason I'd suggest later ages is development. In my opinion, 14 is too soon after (or in some cases, in) puberty to start mucking up a body with alcohol. A brain in particular isn't even fully developed until age 25 (some sources even claim as early as 18 or as late as 30, but 25 seems to be the most widely accepted statistic), but I believe that's far too late for someone to start learning restraint. Being around young, like-minded people when consuming alcohol can have dire consequences, and although not all parents can win Parent of the Year (tm), I'd be willing to vouch for most of them as better influences on their children than fellow teens or tweens.

I've also heard that liver development doesn't finish until 18, but I haven't been able to find any reliable sources to back that up.

Another thing that I've been trying to find (and have been unsuccessful so far) is exactly which parts of the brain are damaged by alcohol consumption. It's widely accepted that the brain shrinks as a result of alcohol consumption, beyond the shrinkage caused by aging alone. However, most sites that I've seen don't go into any further detail (except one, which reported that the shrinkage can be reversed with abstinence from alcohol consumption, but the brain is less capable of this regeneration after longer periods of alcoholism).

So, if anyone could cite any studies, I'd really like to read up. All I seem to find is anti-alcohol propaganda.

Exactly. Agreed.

And Doomfishy, I generally agree with you, but I have to say, it's not most teenagers that get drunk then drive. That's a small, though sadly noticeable minority.

Honestly, I like the law in some places, its perfectly legally for your mom or pops to buy you some booze and drink it up, as long as you're with them, or on your property.

I think teenagers should be allowed to drink with parental supervision.
That way, they can learn to REGULATE what they drink.
And they know how much is too much BEFORE they pass out at a party and die from alcohol poisoning.

Wait so your telling me that it's illegal to give your kids alcohol?:shock: I'm not being funny. As a kid on the holidays if the adults had champagne, or wine the kids would get some too, we even had little kids glasses. Wow thats wow.

In several states, yes, it's illegal. In some states, it's not.

Just make children watch intervention and tell them if they do enough drugs and drink enough alcohol, they can end up real winners like those people.

Kids are going to drink and try drugs. Well, I shouldn't say kids when I mean teenagers, but they're all kids to me.
My parents let me drink as a teen, because I did it a home, or in a supervised location. I wasn't an idiot about it.
It's a matter of trust, control, and understanding the consequences.