Well, over in Europe, they start them early. Kids start drinking wine with their meals in France at the age of 12 or so, for example. If you look at the drunk driving accidents over there, its considerably lower in the states. So, this bring up one school of thought. If you start drinking responsibly at a young age, you'll probably drink responsibly at an older age.
Now, as a High School student, I can safely say that most of my peers are not discouraged at all by the laws set by the state of NJ on the legal drinking age being 21. They go out partying with their friends, and totally get smashed. They never learn to drink in moderation, like they would if they had European parents. So, as a result, some of them end up screwing their own lives, or the lives of others, through alcohol.
Luckily for me, my dad was smart and gave me this speech when I was younger.
But the main reason that the American Government is so hesitant on joining the rest of the world's school of thought is because of our heritage of prohibition. Ever since the mid 19th century, there have been attempts of forbidding the consumption of alcohol. It was called the Temperance movement, and was part of the larger Antebellum Reform Movement (which included women's rights, anti-slavery, all of that). Because it was grouped with equality movements and all that, you can bet that the temperance movement had the right intentions. But still, it missed the boat. Well, in my opinion, anyway.
And then you've got the Nation-wide Prohibition in the World War 1 Era. People still drank, but now it was illegally.
If you ask me, whats going on right now in America is essentially the Prohibition with teenagers. The law isn't stopping people from drinking. You can't limit what people drink. Its even difficult to regulate it. You just need people to understand the drink, which can be done easily through education, which the government does regulate.
