Well, I'm closer to being the kid in the situation described above than the parent (I'm 20, and even trying to imagine being a dad just makes my head spin. I can't even picture it!
).
But if my parents had caught me with a whole load of alcohol in my room at 17, they would probably just have wondered why the need for such a big stash, and they would probably have asked about it, but it certainly wouldn't have been an issue.
I had (and still have) an open relationship with my parents. They knew that I drank, and that I was responsible about it....honestly no big deal!
Maybe I'm waaay off here, but I think that if a kid grows up knowing the alcohol is no big deal, and that it is not forbidden, then it won't be much of a problem. I imagine that much of the very underage binge drinking the goes on is due to kids wanting to rebel against their parents.
How could I rebel by drinking, when my parents were cool with it? Where's the fun in that? (Instead, my rebellion involved refusing to cut my hair....take
that loving parents!)