New life and age limits on alcohol

I went to visit a new baby. He was a really cute baby. Some babies are not so cute and the odd one can be a bit scary. It's no reflection on the parents or the child because horrendous looking babies can grow up to be quite acceptable looking.

This baby was very sweet as well. He lay on my shoulder and didn't cry. He was a baby you could enjoy cuddling because he didn't wriggle or throw up, he just sort of nestled into me and made charming little noises.

I never really liked holding babies until I had my own and began to understand the fascination. It's their potential and perfection that's interesting. What will they be like when they grow up? They are totally blank so we can project all our wishes and hopes onto their canvas.

Boys are still sweet and innocent at seven, eight and nine. I don't know when they lose their innocence but I suspect exposure to alcohol doesn't help.

When we were in school we all consumed alcohol in our teens and a quite a few of us did it to excess. Alcohol was fun. It made the night exciting and wild. We giggled more and felt we could do anything.

In retrospect I'm sure we could still have had fun without it. It's just that it was there, so we drank. Every social occasion had to have alcohol included or it wasn't really fun. We had dinner parties with loads of wine and spirits, we drank in lanes, in the cinema, in the park, in graveyards and pubs.

There was a dark side to all this as well. Depression, vomiting, unplanned pregnancies, full blown alcoholism, accidents and violence.

So like every parent I am now an intolerant reactionary. I don't want my boys to drink like the boys I knew drank when they were 15 or 16. Irish society hasn't changed in its attitude to drink in the past 20 years. My au pairs have been disgusted and bored by our obsession with alcohol. Kids seem to drink as much now as we did then. Some social commentators think they drink even more.

I would like the government decided to tackle teenage alcohol abuse in a serious way.

The only way they could do this is by:

1. Banning alcohol sales in supermarkets.

2. Strictly controlling the sale of alcohol to minors.

3. Changing the age limit for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21.

4. Providing alternatives for kids that are fun.

5. Educating kids about the danger of alcohol abuse.

6. Prosecuting publicans, shopkeepers, parents and children who break the law.

Parents would have to set an example at home in order for this to have an effect. It is up to us to enforce a ban on our teenagers drinking if we want their drinking habits to be different to ours.

Do we have a true desire for this change to occur?

Let's hope so.