My daughter recently turned 21, she doesn't really care that she can drink legally now.  As a teen we traveled in countries that allow drinking as young as 16. She had a chance to try beer, wine and other fruity drinks - she didn't like them much - in an environment where getting drunk was looked upon as low class and inappropriate! And, with her mom.

When I was young drinking was an attempt to look older, follow the examples set by my parents, movie characters, breaking the rules and be "cool." Being "cool" is only possible in an environment that rewards inappropriate behavior. Drinking usually results in teenagers acting stupid or foolish, getting sick, loosing their memory of the event and can enable all kinds of dangerous situations. This is what they should understand!

Since she left home for college, my daughter is the designated driver. She still does not like the taste and hates looking stupid or foolish and wants to be sure her friends remain alive.

Perhaps if we follow the lead of Countries that have successful lower drinking ages, and raise the driving age to 18 we can eliminate many tragic vehicular events among young people. BTW, my daughter did not drive or take drives ed. until she was 18.