>>Yes I did have a thesis, which basically defines the position of the individual in relation to society throughout recorded history.
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>Cool, thanks. I might check out that book you mentioned. Are there others worth reading?
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>I'm wondering if there is a greater unexplained area to explore here. As in your example, the conflict between teenagers that drink alcohol and parents that don't want them to has been ongoing for at least 5000 years. This is interesting in itself, but how many 21st centruy scientists have tackled the problem of why a trivial conlfict discovered half a millenia ago has not been solved. I'm not interested in the specifics of your example, or how the conflict arose, or why it arose, but why its been tolerated to exist for so long.

IMO, that's because it's not really a conflict. Young people will always need to spend some time socializing with their peers, and at a certain age it may involve some partly anti-social stuff. OTOH, not all parents are the same; many remember they did it themselves in their own time. In my home culture, this period is called "driving the dog" (for lack of better translation), and generally ends when one gets married, or graduates. I see this more as an extended rite of passage than a conflict. Of course, it's parent's duty to grumble a little - it's a part of the same rite.