The charity Alcohol Concern (recommended by the BBC) wants to prosecute parents who let children under 15 have a drink in the house with a meal because they think it leads to binge drinking sprees. This is dumb for a couple of reasons:
1) Someone who is, say, 10-14 being allowed a glass of champagne or wine with Christmas dinner, on an older relative's birthday or at a wedding anniversary or something is a million miles away from letting a five-year-old knock back a six-pack of hooch. Alcohol Concern's proposed law would not discriminate between these scenarios.
2) How on Earth are the police supposed to enforce this law? How are they going to know you let junior drink that can of shandy? Cameras in the dining room? No-one could be caught, investigations would be a waste of time and money.
"Binge drinking by children can have serious consequences for brain function, significantly raises the risk of alcohol dependency in later life and diminishes their life chances." - Srabani Sen, Alcohol Concern
No, really? Alcoholism damages your brain, people who drink heavily are more likely to become alcoholics, and being an alcoholic can mean you have fewer "life chances"? Wow. Im glad we've got these people to tell us these things and conduct important research with the money we donate to them. Maybe their next study tell us how shooting up can be hazardous to your health.
Besides, talking about how binge drinking by children is bad is not an argument for banning drinks for meals. In fact, it's logically fallacious.
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