This goes against everything my parents tried to teach me in my teenage years; my parents introduced drink early on in a social way. I did get drunk, but never in the same way as some of my friends whose parents didn't allow them to drink. A little common sense, please?

Amy, Canterbury,

When I was thirteen I went stupid scoffing my parents booze stash on New Years Eve and to this day can't stand wine because of all the fortified wines I ended up painting the back fence with. I think parents should force their children to drink a vile concoction of a few types of grog for their good

chris, Melbourne,

It's proven that alcoholism is an inherited disability. My mother's first cousin was alcoholic, a very depressed person whose own father killed himself when she was 12. She started drinking sneaking drinks at 12. I do not think anything except abstinence would have kept her from being a drunk.

J Rhinehart, SC, USA

My parents let me try whiskey when I was 9 years old and the foul taste put me off all strong spirits for the rest of my life (I'm 27).

Liam, Stoke, UK

So is this why France, where alcohol is freely available, and children often drink alcohol with their parents, is a nation of drunken idiots?
Is this why I, who didn't touch alcohol until I was 22, became an alcoholic?
Leave people alone and let them live their lives!

Martyn Taylor, Swindon, England

I am 18 and the people I know who binge drink the most are the ones whose parents are very strict with alcohol. I believe that's more dangerous than parents allowing the occasional drink at home where it can be introduced responsibly.

Clare, London,

Really? So why do countires that introduce children to alcohol gradually from an early age, Spain, France, Italy etc have lesser problems with teenagers and those in their twenties drinking to excess than we do? Whilst we, who say children can't drink until they are 18 have the worst problems?

Alan Palmer, York,