Alcohol is often behind poor parental control; disagreement and violence in the family; health problems and other harmful situations that threaten children?s welfare and development.

Mixing it with education, hence gives rise to a potentially hazardous cocktail .

Alcohol punctuates the lives of more than 2 billion people worldwide. It purports to entertain, facilitate social interaction, determine manly features and complement tables to mention but a few of its perceived attributes.

This endorsement of alcohol as an unavoidable cultural ally by society perpetuates the use and unfortunate abuse of it by an increasing number of youngsters despite the fact that it is illegal to provide alcohol to minors.

In England for instance, one out of five pupils gets drunk once a month. Out of this significant number, 4% are 11yrs old! According to an article published in local papers The Times issued on 2 October last ?it is estimated that almost 25,000 school-age children may drink to excess weekly.?

The situation has reached such disturbing point that even the professional body for licensed retail sector is contributing to help fight youth alcohol abuse.

The former British inn keeping institute has in fact developed a 10 hour course which unveils the dangers of excessive drinking.

This training, which treats aspects ranging from legal implications behind purchasing or selling alcohol to minors, to health hazards linked to drinking leads to a qualification known as alcohol awareness certificate which is recognised by the British Qualifications and curriculum Authority.

The accredited nature of this qualification which is worth half a GCSE, gives a new impetus to learning about the dangers of alcohol. It also provokes a change in attitude by shedding a new light on the adverse consequences of drinking and shattering myths related to it. While alcohol is, for instance, often associated with manliness , the risks of obesity and impotence linked to its excessive intake are uncovered in this course!

Other countries would surely benefit from implementing a similar training to curb the fashionable trend of youth drinking worldwide. In the meanwhile we should continue to guide our youngsters about the dangers of alcohol not only at home but also in schools and through the media as it is a question of National interest.

An even greater awareness and enforcement of the laws regarding alcohol access to minors would be desirable.

Some under-aged groups for instance would turn around this restriction by getting grown ups to purchase drinks for them at parties, fancy fairs or discotheques. The latter should be aware that it is illegal for them to do so .

An even greater attention at supermarkets should be exercised by cashiers who, caught in the chain process of passing articles through barcode readers, might fail to reconcile alcoholic products to purchasers? age. Some under-aged are in fact expert at taking advantage of the situation and dissimulate restricted products among normal ones.

Empowering educators to spot check the belongings of students if they suspect those might contain alcoholic products would not be a bad additional measure .

Leading out our youngsters to consider alcohol as a serious issue will definitely either turn them into abstainers or responsible drinkers?

Is this collective effort ultimately aimed at enlightening choices not after all the hallmark of the good education we are all craving for?