Underage Drinking, could it be a good thing?

Out of all the "bad behaviour" I have researched for this module I personally feel that this is the one that I would quite openly admit to doing in the past. I would even go as far as to say it perhaps one of the most common types of "bad behaviour", obviously performed by anyone under the age of 18 living here in the UK.

Through http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ I found a link to the results of a survey done in 2008 about the smoking, drinking and drug habits of younger people aged 11-15 years old. (http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles-related-surveys/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england-in-2008-full-reportnd-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england-in-2008-full-report)

The results showed that "52 per cent of pupils have tried alcohol at least once and 18 per cent drank alcohol in the last week" which was the largest percentage on the survey as only 32 per cent had tried smoking and 22 per cent had tried drugs.

However, I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. The survey did give a disapproving tone, but being part of the NHS, I guess this was understandable.

Personally, I think children trying alcohol at a younger age can be beneficial to them in later years. I mean I'm not saying that children should be allowed to drink constantly, but the occasional taster I believe actually does them good.

When I was an early teen my parents would allow me to drink on special occasions. I think this actually was good for me because it meant that when I was left alone or was out with friends when they were desperate to go drinking I didn't feel the need. I had already tried it, and at that time found alcohol disgusting to the taste and would opt for strawberry instead.

I mean yes, I am in favour of underage drinking but only under the supervision of a trustworthy adult and in moderation. I think this goes in favour of alcohol and underage drinking because now, when I'm actually legal enough to drink, I don't feel the urge to go drinking all the time because I never felt drinking was inaccessible to me so now it's not something new and "bad" that I have to go and test to the extreme. I believe a little underage drinking can help give youngsters responsible drinking habits in the future.