Adult-Supervised Alcohol Use Doesn't Teach Adolescents to Drink Responsibly

Proponents of lowering the drinking age in the U.S. to 18 years argue that doing so would give parents an opportunity to teach their teenagers to drink responsibly. To test this hypothesis, investigators compared self-reported alcohol use in 918 students in Washington State (which has a “zero-tolerance” underage drinking policy that emphasizes abstinence) and 908 students in Victoria, Australia (which has a “harm-minimization” underage drinking policy that emphasizes responsible drinking). Students completed in-school surveys annually from seventh to ninth grades. Family factors (i.e., family management, parental attitudes toward alcohol use, familial substance abuse) were assessed in seventh grade. Opportunities to use alcohol with adult s…