[Chris]

I think we have a very immature attitude towards alcohol in this country. It is taxed to a level where it cannot be as available on the dinner table as it is in France, and then we make a big thing about it being for adults only.

Yet in France children see is as just another part of life. It's on the table, they get to drink it sensibly - so when they grow up a bit and start looking for ways to rebel, the way all kids do, getting p*ssed in the park on a Friday night is less likely to be an option.

My kids will be brought up around wine and beer and allowed to drink it from whatever age it's legal to give it to them at home (anybody know what age that is?) Me and my brother used to make our own homebrew from when we were mid-teens, and I still have the kit. Not using it at the moment (no space or time, with a 19-month-old in the house) but I plan to get back into it when I can, and I'd like to see if jr towny would like to help.

I reckon if he grows up with a mature attitude towards alcohol, then he might not feel he needs to get plastered with his school mates just to earn some street cred (or whatever they call it now).