I would be very tempted to allow limited drinking at home. I know that will get some hackles up. But.... if you allow nothing, he is going to go out to drink. That's guaranteed, right? And, when he goes out to drink, there are going to be other things going on. And every time, it's going to get more tempting. He might turn it down once, five time, twenty times, but sooner or later, he might not. Especially since he will have been drinking first. Whereas if he can drink a little at home, he doesn't need to go out at all, you know where he is, and he can learn responsibility with you right there. The one condition I would add is that he understands that on evenings he drinks at home he does not go out. The first time he does, the drinking at home stops.
I know that philosophy goes against the billboards and the TV ads. I know it is illegal. I've seen how things are done in Europe, and here, as far as attitudes towards drinking. I think their was works better. I think he is going to learn responsibility a lot better at home that by going out to drink. And he can learn more at home than by getting turned loose at 21. The big point of the law is to prevent kids drinking and driving. If he's home, you know you've accomplished that.
