Wisconsin law currently allows those under 21 to drink in a bar with the permission of a parent, guardian, or spouse, at the discretion of a bartender.
No one I know has ever availed himself of this law. I know of no evidence – none – that shows this provision of our law contributes to any injury or discernible harm.
That hasn’t stopped witnesses, including relatives of drunks, to contend that the law is needed to prevent alcohol abuse. (Not one of these witnesses can show that his or her relative wouldn’t have been a rumpot regardless of the current law.)
If one doesn’t want one’s underage children to drink, then don’t order for them. I know that I haven’t If other parents want to do, then they should be able to do so.
Too funny, also, to read the Two Rivers police chief’s contention that this matter should be taken out of a parent’s hands. Out of parents who know their children, and into his?
These are New Prohibitionists looking for something else to criminalize. (If everyone stopped drinking, some towns would go broke for lack of revenue from fines.)