I can believe it. We let our kid skip 4th grade. It was absolutely the right thing for him at the time. He's now a college freshman and first term was a mess. Being under 18, he needed his parents to sign off on a bunch of things no other student had to even think about. Thankfully, he's turned 18 now.
He took a band trip to Vegas this week but got left behind last night because he was the only under 21 on this trip. Part of me is annoyed that no one was willing to skip the clubs and tables to not leave him hanging alone. But I remember back to that age and there's no way I would have done that at 21 with a per diem. He made the best of it and had a really good meal and explored the Strip but the age difference matters a lot in the college years.
You could also argue that your jurisdiction is the problem. In several European countries there'd only be a problem if someone is under 16, or if the people actually NEED to go to a night club or casino straight away (and not just late rin the evening), but every bar and retaurant would be open at 18 and 16-18 should be ok until 10pm or midnight.
He took a band trip to Vegas this week but got left behind last night because he was the only under 21 on this trip. Part of me is annoyed that no one was willing to skip the clubs and tables to not leave him hanging alone. But I remember back to that age and there's no way I would have done that at 21 with a per diem. He made the best of it and had a really good meal and explored the Strip but the age difference matters a lot in the college years.