I have a query about the minimum drinking age laws in the States, with
which maybe someone could help me. I know that people under the age of
twenty-one are forbidden from purchasing alcoholic drinks anywhere in the
States, and that in many of the states they are also forbidden from
possessing or consuming alcoholic drinks, even under the supervision of
their parents in their own homes, but are they allowed to go into bars to
consume soft drinks and watch other people drinking alcohol? if so, must
they be accompanied by their parents, or at least by an adult? Doubtless,
the law in this respect varies from state to state. If children are allowed
into bars in some states, however, this would make an interesting
comparison with the position here in Britain, where there has been a lot of
discussion about the recent introduction of "children's certificates" that
allow children to accompany their parents when they go to pubs (something
that had been forbidden until 1991 in Scotland and until 1995 in England
and Wales; previously children had to sit in the car or, if they were
lucky, play on some patch of ground while their parents went into the pub
for a drink). If someone could enlighten me about the American position, I
should be very grateful.