All British parents out there do take this to heart, as you can be prosecuted. The mistake this parent made was to allow a party where children (not her own) were served without their parents permission and were turned in and made an example of.
I myself have my own views about his new puritain system, and do feel that the original intention of getting alcohol out of the high schools was not very well thought through.
I am american citizen, and grew up in the US when the stardard law/practice in most states was that beer and wine could be consumed/bought from age 18, and spirits/fortified wines etc was 21. the max for beer was 3.2 % alcohol. given that a proprotion of teens will be age 18 before leaving their last year of school (grade 12) they thought that this would stop teens drinking.
It hasn't. And they either get it illegally thru forged ID, paying proxy adults, crooked stores, friends, parents at home, etc. They therefore drive to get it, drink outside wherever, and are generally unsafe. This does not take into account ( I have never seen a study done) as to how many 18-20 yr olds will look to cannabis or other drugs as they are equally illegal rather than choosing a beer like they migh have before the change.
They are deemed old enough to be adults in that they can vote for a president, can join the armed forces and die on a foreign field, and can get married, or can generally have sexual relations with another consenting adult. You can be held accountable as an adult, and executed for a capital crime from the age of 16 or younger in some states.
I find most if not all of these activites are more needing of adult responsibility than drinking a 3.2% beer in a controlled home setting myself. And there is now more profit to be made by irresposible adults (ie proxys, stores or drug dealers) than there would be if they either started school at age 4-5 insted of 5-6, or made the legal age to drink beero or wine 19. Both of these measures would have taken alcohol out of a school environment as well. And this doesn;t take into account the caseof a mother thinking she might be more protective of her child drinking where she could keep a watch over him and keep hom and others safe. What if he'd gone out to drink and killed someone in the family car? Would he/she have gotten less time in jail than their mother?
Think about it, it isn't until your 3rd to 4th year of university before you can legally drink a beer there now. Just plain stupid IMHO.