By DIRK JOHNSON

EDGERTON, Wisconsin - When a 15-year-old comes into Wile-e’s bar looking for a cold beer, the bartender, Mike Whaley, is happy to serve it up - as long as a parent is there to give permission.

“If they’re 15, 16, 17, it’s fine if they want to sit down and have a few beers,”said Mr.Whaley, who owns the tavern in this small town in southern Wisconsin.

While it might surprise people in most of America, where the drinking age is 21, it is perfectly legal in Wisconsin. Minors can drink alcohol in a bar or restaurant in Wisconsin if they are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who gives consent.

This state, long famous for its breweries, has led the nation in binge drinking in every year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began its surveys on the problem more than a decade ago. Binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a sitting for a man, four for a woman.

People in Wisconsin are more likely than other Americans to drive drunk, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The state has among the highest incidence of drunken driving deaths in the United States.

Now a coalition called All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education has started a campaign to push for tougher drunken driving laws, an increase in screening for alcohol abuse at health clinics and a greater awareness of drinking problems generally.

The group, led by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, criticized the state as having a mindset that accepts, even celebrates, getting drunk.

“Our goal is to dramatically change the laws, culture and behaviors in Wisconsin,” said Dr.Robert N.Golden, the dean of the medical school, calling the state “an island of excessive consumption.”

The campaign comes after a series in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel titled“Wasted in Wisconsin,”which chronicled the prodigious imbibing among residents of the state.

“People are dying,”the newspaper exclaimed in an editorial,“and alcohol is the cause.”

Wisconsin has long been famous for making and drinking beer. Going back to the 1800s, almost every town in the state had its own brewery. Milwaukee was the home of Miller, Pabst and Schlitz. Now Miller is the only big brewery in the city.

Most people in Wisconsin say the beer-drinking traditions reflect the customs of German immigrants, passed down generations. Some experts, though, are skeptical of the ethnic explanation. It has been a very long time since German was spoken in the beer halls of Wisconsin.

Whatever the reason, plenty of Wisconsin people make no apologies for their fondness for drinking.

“I work 70, 80 hours a week, and sometimes I just want to relax,” said Luke Gersich, 31, an engineering technician.

On a weeknight, he said he might drink seven or eight beers. On a weekend, it might be closer to 12.