Here in the UK, kids are allowed to drink at 16 with their parents in a bar*, and in the local pub near where I grew up (and my first job at 15, although not on the bar), the general policy was to let under-18’s drink, as long as they were local. The general idea was that it was better for the kids to be drinking in a pub where their neighbours/relatives could keep an eye on them, instead of sneaking off somewhere to drink White Lightning behind a barn.
I had friends who’s parents absolutely forbade them from alcohol before they were 18, which of course didn’t work, and they didn’t have quite as mature an attitude towards drinking as the rest of us. (Well, mature for an 18 y/o anyway).
tl/dr supervised drinking for young 'uns is probably good, child labour should be heavily regulated.
*(that’s the simplified version anyway)
