But I do think that there should be substantially more alcohol awareness education in schools if that's the case. And by actual speakers and trained groups, etc. not the lame health teacher who nobody will listen to.
My high school has been know to get the occassional speaker in to talk about this drugs, booze and sex. This was in addition to what our health teachers where telling.
However the problem I see it is this. the more you tell a teenager not to do some thing, the more likely that teenager is going to go out and do it.
Mind you, I do think that some of those ads where you had some teenager drowning in a pool of his own vomit, riding the porcelain bus or spewing up on his girlfriend favorite skirt can be rather effective. The reason why I did not drink much in high school was that I was put off by the side effects of drinking too much.
If we didn't treat beer as the drink of the devil and actually taught kids at a younger age what it is all about then we wouldn't have as near a severe problem as we do now.
This is where parents can help out. Not sure about other countries, but it perfectly okay for your parents to offer there kids the occasional drink in private.
Like when i was in primary school, my dad would allow me the occasional sip of beer. When I was about 15, mom or dad would give me the okay for to make a shanty (Beer + Lemonade) after a doing some house chores.
And by the time I was 18, provided that i chipped in for the next case, they did not mind me helping myself.
Wine was okay through out those years. However spirits was a no-go zone until i was 16. And even there my parents where rather strict on that stuff until i was 18.
And the thing is this. Once you are of legal age, beer and alcohol is not the big thing. About the only thing left is going into a pub for a first time.
And the other thing too is that you have some idea of what your limits are.
