The more I study alcohol history the more that I begin to realize the extent of my ignorance. Perhaps ATHG subscribers can help me in regards youth and alcoholic beverages. I assume that a large part of the problem is how a society defines childhood. For instance, in recent years in the USA, childhood has been both enlarged chronologically (university students are not expected to be as responsible for their actions as had people of the same age a hundred years previously) and also narrowed (adult rights in voting and sexuality for teenagers). I assume too that the varying role of formal law in different societies is relevant, as is the kind of alcoholic beverages (for instance, wine or whiskey, low-alcohol beer or regular beer, etc.). And, of course, minimum legal ages for drinking seldom coincide with practice. There are all sorts of other considerations, as for example, religion (notably, Islam) and the role alcohol plays in social rituals, etc. Any suggestions? David M. Fahey Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA <[log in to unmask]>