Underage Drinking

In Prior Lake High School at least half the students I talk to say they have gotten drunk at some point. 
How does this happen? Maybe you go stay at a friend's house for a night and they want to see you drunk. Maybe they pull out the shot glasses and you down half a dozen as quickly as possible. Maybe you retch when the horrible taste hits you. Maybe you wonder why people ever drink this stuff. Maybe you all go sit on the couches and chat about how you are feeling. Maybe you feel normal but they say you're acting funny. Maybe you laugh a lot and everything seems happy. Maybe you suddenly realize that your head is heavy and you spin it around because it is fun. Maybe you say that people should do this every day before they leave the house. Maybe they tell you not to urinate because it will waste alcohol. Maybe they drink from a bottle of vodka they were going to save for the next night. Maybe you say it tastes like nail polish and you still don't know why people drink this stuff.
Maybe you loosen up and everything is just okay. Maybe you talk to them and say exactly what you mean and feel. Maybe you wish you could be this open all the time. Maybe you wish that people could be this open to others all the time. Maybe you have never had sex and you ask them all about it. Maybe they pull up a diagram of a vagina on an iTouch and tell show you where the clitoris is. Maybe you all cluster around the iTouch and you throw your arm around someone's shoulder because it just feels like the good thing to do. Maybe you ask them how they get so much sex. Maybe they tell you it's just all natural. Maybe they tell you that part of it is initiating light, physical contact and read her signals. Maybe they tell you how to read her signals. Maybe they tell you to escalate the contact bit by bit as long as she gives off good signals. Maybe they say that you should last a minute your first time, so don't feel like a faggot when you bust really fast.
Maybe they play music and you dance around to it. Maybe you feel fluid. Maybe you practice maintaining a calm, controlled demeanor in case his parents come down. Maybe you practice the drinking tests a cop will give you. Maybe you can pass them but you know it will be pretty hard. Maybe you tell them earnestly that you never ever ever ever ever want to drink and drive. Maybe they say yeah dude that's just not cool.

One kid said the first time he got drunk, as in drunk, a friend of his spent a half hour simply falling backwards onto a couch. He would stand up straight and then tilt back, and fall onto the pillows and cushions. He never said anything to anyone when he was doing this, but his friends said he probably liked how it made his head feel funny.
That same night, a kid was trying to throw darts. He took about a dozen steps back and tried to hit the target, but the dart was thrown about 60 degrees to his left and left a mark in the wall. Everyone thought it was hilarious. He said he just collapsed midway into the throw and missed completely.
When one kid was trying to pee, he stood as far back as he could and "pissed all over the place." He said it was a lot like the scene in The Hangover when Allen first wakes up.
One kid really wanted to show everyone his dick. He said, "My dick might be short, but it's fuckable," then fell back onto the couch.
One kid really wanted to lick someone else's dick. He got really close then laughed and jumped away.
These kids had sports practice the next morning and had a horrible hangover.
One of them later got a Minor in Possession of Alcohol after a party.

Drinking alcohol is a non-issue in most of the world. Strangely enough in the U.S. (the land of the "Free") it is highly illegal to drink under the age of 21. Most people ignore this law. The first time a kid drinks probably when she is with her friends. Probably past midnight. Probably at someone's house. Or maybe out in the woods. Because it is illegal for teenagers to drink, they drink almost invariably without any supervision. No one is there to tell them to stop, to tell them how to mix the drinks, to keep them from doing stupid things. But I seriously doubt anyone would get drunk with their friends while their parents were in the next room ready to baby sit them if need be. Perhaps this is just an American thing, but drinking is one of those steps you take to distance yourself from your parents and claim your own independence.

I talked to an exchange student from Switzerland about this. He said in Switzerland it's not such a huge deal, but kids still think of drinking as some kind of "independence movement." Having a beer with your parents can happen, but getting drunk with them just never happens. One exception, though, he has a friend who gets drunk and goes to clubs with his dad, but it's a rare relationship.
The drinking in his country is a lot more open and social than what PLHS kids do. Swiss kids will go to the bars and all start drinking together. Some mugs, some bottles, some wine, some shots. Friends will walk in and have a few drinks. They might go run around in the city streets for a little while or stay in the bar. Then maybe they go to the sports game a few hours later. PLHS kids will smuggle alcohol into parties like they're transporting WMDs, and it's totally bad-ass if you are intoxicated outside of the house.
I guess the Swiss kids get a 5-year head start on us with their legalized public drunkeness.

Of course I'm just a teenager who wants more liberties, but I think it is reasonable for the U.S. government to take note of the fact that alcohol-abuse rates are not higher in the rest of the world, even though kids get drunk (big kids, that is.) Maybe it's just how everyone in the U.S. is brain-washed with Health 9 lectures on how alcohol will kill you if you have not survived 21 revolutions around the star. In theory, this is just silly. In objective reality, it's asinine.

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I heard a conversation between two kids about whether or not under-age drinking is immoral. The kid who said it is immoral brought up things like, "You're not ready for it yet," and "It's against the law." The kid who said it is not immoral countered with things like "That's completely subjective," "Laws are not moral absolutes," "Would you condemn someone for drinking wine at Communion?" Would you condemn someone for having a beer with his dad?" The kid who said it is immoral to drink under age seemed like he ran out of arguments.
My perspective on this? Those who say it IS wrong to drink underage say so because they do not question authority. Those who say it is NOT wrong to drink underage say so because either they harbor irrational disgust towards authority, or because they have thought it through on their own and arrived at the logical conclusion.