Saturday, July 19, 2008

Enfants Terribles?

For years there has been a pinko tinged group in Britain who worship all things French, indeed all things foreign, while despising British culture.

One of the main symptoms of this is their view of the French attitude to kids, especially their presence in bars and restaurants. There are the constant comparisons between French and British kids when it comes to alcohol, how the French kids don't get drunk because they are given a glass of wine at birth and all that nonsense.

Admittedly you don't tend to fall over drunken, puking teenagers on your way home in Paris or Bordeaux, but I haven't in Lancaster or London either. Indeed I often wonder if the media stage those secenes of semi-clad teenage girls puking in a gutter to spice up their reports on binge drinking.

So if there isn't a problem in France why is the French Health Minister planning to ban under-18s from buying alcohol in bars, restaurants and supermarkets? Is it yet another attempt at EU harmonisation, or do the French actually have a problem with young drinkers too?

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