I agree. I find it bizarre that people take as read that alcohol will be being consumed and facilitate it with kids this age. There's something very defeatist about it.
It's true that a portion of teenagers will drink regardless of what their parents recommend and its also true that its better for them to drink on a supervised basis than buy strong spirits behind their parents' backs.
But it's really interesting that we seem to feel in this country that kids drinking themselves into a stupor is inevitable, rather than trying to discourage it. Why?
If you look at the facts historically, my generation (Gen X) drank much more heavily than previous generations. It was part of the culture in a way it mainly isn't for today's youth. Gen Zs drink a lot less and have a much more mature attitude to alcohol. That doesn't mean they are teetotal but they don't seem to be hell bent on drinking themselves into oblivion.
But tons of people on this thread seem to be just accepting that kids will develop unhealthy and furtive drinking habits as a matter of course. It could happen, but its far more likely to happen if you model the idea that drinking is normal! My parents drank daily (my dad was a high functioning alcoholic). They encouraged us to drink in the belief that "healthy" drinking is better than total avoidance. They were in massive denial about the fact that they couldn't face the idea of life without alcohol.
I think its far better to encourage abstinence (with a mature acceptance that this can't be guaranteed, and supervise drinking when it does occur, than rush to initiate your kids into unhealthy drinking patterns. Particularly when they are much less inclined to do it in the first place!