Chris Maclean: learning the art of drinking

My youngest daughter has been quite upset today.

As a parent I have a reputation for being quite blunt and forthcoming in our relationship. For example, more than once I have told my daughters they can experience slight leakage, but never slight pregnancy. That sort of thing.

But this morning I saw the signs and remained at a distance. I recognise the need for 'Mummy time'.

It turns out that my daughter is upset by two things. Firstly she has worked incredibly hard over these past few months to organise a 'prom' for her school year group to celebrate the end of year exams. The event was last night and seems to have been a success. Well at least there appears to have been no major casualties. But after all the hard work my daughter has come to realise how ungrateful people can be. How Herculean effort can be simply overlooked. My daughter has spent hours of time and her own money to make it work, it has worked - and people have ignored her.

I thought, as the daughter of a licensee, she would have realised this would happen.

The second thing is more to do with her age. At 16 she has finished her O-levels (okay, they are GCSEs now) and now her year group fractures as some go on to further education and some leave. But it would seem that for many of her peer group the intention is to spend much of the summer drinking huge amounts and living in a semi-permanent state of intoxication. This my daughter finds incredibly dispiriting. There has to be more to a young life than drunkenness and I am glad my daughter realises this.

For me the issue of young people drinking is a difficult one. The law about purchasing alcohol has fixed the threshold at 18 years old. Until then nothing. After eighteen everything goes. There is no grey intermediary stage and perhaps there ought to be. Small wonder then that in the years leading up to this magical threshold people attempt to push the boundaries and then think that, once they have hit eighteen, they are able to, and capable of, drinking whatever they want.

I believe young people need to learn the social art of drinking with weaker drink and responsible behaviour. I abhor 18 year olds drinking vodka, for example, but the law permits it, makes no allowances for controlled exemption and fosters a culture of excess.

I am proud of my daughter but recognise these are difficult times made more difficult by poor and inflexible law.