If we didn't treat drinking as if it were a THING--a forbidden fruit--kids wouldn't use it as a way to break the rules, and wouldn't see getting drunk as a desirable activity once they got to college.
In Italy, there is no "drinking age". Mothers send their 8 year olds to the supermarket for a bottle of wine, or brandy, or scotch. the kids aren't interested in drinking it at that age. By the time they're around 12, they may get a glass of wine at holiday meals, but again, surveys have shown they aren't all that interested. By their mid-teens, they start drinking beer--they can buy it in any bar, or at McDonalds with a snack--but usually not in excess.
it isn't till they're in their 20s that they begin to develop an appreciation of wine.
