Drinking In Europe
A New York Times comments section on the blog item "Why (and How) I Drink," by Paul Clarke, had some European perspective. Vive la difference, at least in the alcohol consumption arena. The Europeans who commented were raised as I was -- offered "tastes" of alcohol by parents, with alcohol seen as no big deal; a part of life. Here are a few of their remarks:

Growing up in Italy, where the stigma on alcohol is (or was) non-existent and where drinking age kicks in just after breast feeding stops, I remember many high-school parties which ended with bottles of booze (gasp!) still sealed and untouched on the tables. There was simply no need to guzzle it up since we all came from families where alcohol was an available, normal and unremarkable part of daily life. True responsibility comes from knowledge and familiarity, and this applies to pretty much anything.
-- Paolo

Here's Ted:

I live in Europe, and it is clear that children are much better socialized with alcohol here than I was when growing up in the US. Wine is seen as an accessary to a meal, not as a means to dull one's pains or loossen one's lips. Alchohol is not the forbidden fruit that in the US drives 14 and 15 year olds to binge drink, attempting to accelerate their ascension to adulthood. Kids can legally drink beer and wine in bars from 16, and most slip in when they are as young as 14. Rarely have I come across a drunk teenager. Of course, in Switzerland, kids can't drive until they are 21, and its costs an arm and a league to get a license (that's one way to avoid the lethal mix of alcohol and cars so prevalent in the US).

I often notice with envy the couple at the next table in a restaurant who order an expensive bottle of wine, drink half and leave the rest on the table when they depart the restaurant. Unfortunately, if its me, I paid for it and I'm going to get my money's worth whether I need the extra 2 glasses or not!

I think on this score, the Europeans have the Americans beat-to avoid making alcohol the forbidden fruit, available only to "adults", and letting kids sip diluted wine with meals with the family seems to work much better than prohibition (either the 1920′'s variety or the modern version) which is the guiding principle in most US households
-- Ted

Here's Carol:

I, too, grew up in Europe (Spain.) There is one aspect of the Spanish attitude on alcohol that no one else has mentioned in their descriptions of European moderation.

In Spain -- at least the Spain of 1960-1975 -- there were no liquor laws. Children were taught to drink wine at the family table. If you had the money, you could buy the alcohol, regardless of age.

However, anyone boorish enough to actually get drunk was ostracized. Seriously ostracized by the society. At one of the many parties my father's job required my mother to organize, one gentleman became inebriated. He was taken home by a fellow party member. Everyone else offered profuse apologies to my mother. Everyone was ashamed that such a breach of common decency had occurred. The next day, gifts of apology came pouring in to my mother -- flowers, candies, household items.

On the other hand, abstention was accepted without comment. The flip side of the code was that those who could not "hold" their liquor should abstain. There was no shame in it.

More than any laws, social pressure changes behavior. It is not enough that we applaud the moderation approach to teaching children to drink. We must also underscore our disapproval of immoderate drinking. Not just parents, but all of us.
-- Carol

And then there's the USA:

I remember being a Protestant at a Catholic High School in a Mormon State (Utah), and it seemed the kids who at parties were on a mission to get blitzed fastest were the Mormon kids. I think it was because, as the author pointed out, they didn't have proper drinking skills modeled for them. While the rest of us just saw it as a drink, not a drug or form of rebellion. -- Dave