Polemic

Some English Govt health watchdog advisory thing  has come out with a direction that children up to the age of 15 should not have any exposure to alcohol.  This will apparently stops kids knocking back cider behind bus shelters and generally being a pest to a society that increasingly shows no tolerance to anything that steps out of line.

There was a Govt spokesgit on the box last night telling how alcohol at such a tender age induces brain damage, liver damage, disruption of growth and sex hormones.  This may be true - but it's all about risk management innit?  But I guess the bottom line is that I don't see how such directions will do anything other than encourage kids to drink cider behind bus shelters, confuse parents and generally garner parental anguish.  Surely a bit of alcohol under the guidance of parents is more likely to engender responsible drinking, and more likely to lessen the cool of the bus shelter bar?

But the impact of these directives and scare mongering is far greater and insidious.  Nearly all of us got pished in our teens - and we're fine thanks.  So the Govt undermines it's authority when it spouts this shite.  Why should we believe the safe sex message, the five a day message, the cut your speed message, the global warming message when such statements about the health impacts of underage drinking are so very distant from our daily experience?

And another thing - such pronouncements give moral authority to the snooty, to those who want to condemn errant behaviour too quickly and it just adds drive to the journey towards intolerance misery.

And anyway - how are you supposed to get a kid to sleep if you can't give 'em a dose of gin?