American college students rallied last week to advocate marijuana as a safer alternative to alcohol on their campuses. In France, a new government report proposes a different solution to the problem of binge drinking among students: campus wine tastings in university canteens.
Allowing students to taste wine in moderate quantities will “show them that it is a pleasure, good for their health and part of their national heritage,” Jean-Robert Pitte, a former director of the Sorbonne, tells Decanter magazine in an interview reported on its Web site.
Alain Rigauld, president of a prominent anti-alcohol group in France, dismisses the report as little more than wine-industry marketing.
Decanter promises a detailed description of the report, commissioned by the French minister for higher education, in its May issue. —Don Troop
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7 Responses to France’s Solution to ‘le Binge Drinking’
11260805 - April 6, 2010 at 4:04 pm
This might work for 10 or 12 year olds, but college students? Riiiiiight.
jreuter - April 6, 2010 at 4:32 pm
this could work if the drinking age is 18 and could work in US as well – when I was in college the age was 18, drinking was social and did not get out of hand except for rebels who would cause problems no matter what, it was classy, “grown up” have one drink at a restaurant-wine, beer or mixed. There needs to be some way to responsibly work with teenagers to try alcohol under parental or agency guidance so they can feel the affects – they’ve done experiments with adults on drinking then driving on a driving course and filming it so they can see what type of responses/control they have and how they feel. I say it’s worth a try. And lower the age….other control or laws/policies don’t seem to be working.
fedscholar - April 6, 2010 at 5:06 pm
The problem is, that at least for people of N. European extraction (English, Irish, Scandinavian), many cannot regulate alcohol once they start. We are not French. And the Native Americans….same problem.Bottomline. I think socialization has little to do with it. Alcohol is a very dangerous and addictive drug, and kills many each year, not sugarcoating that. We (Americans) can’t deal with it. I am with the potheads on this one.
lalala1128 - April 6, 2010 at 11:16 pm
many studies have shown that adolescents who were introduced to alcohol before they reach legal drinking age (even in their own homes with parental supervision, i.e. one drink at dinner) were more likely to abuse alcohol and more likely to drink destructively before reaching legal drinking age (thought a few studies have found otherwise, definitely a hard subject to accurately gage). offering alcohol risk free does not seem to be an adequate answer, it’s a much more complicated dilemma. for one thing, it includes the different development rates of inhibition, decision making processes, coping mechanisms etc. and from my personal experience in college, most people who abused alcohol didn’t do so out of pure excitement to try alcohol and it didn’t stem from a desire to be “classy”, it was simply a way to have fun with as little stress possible. have to say the answer the potheads have posed seems to better deal with the questions and motives behind substance abuse in college.
jidou72 - April 7, 2010 at 7:51 am
At Mount St. Mary’s University (Emmitsburg, Maryland), we have held wine tastings for students of age for the past 8 years. We hold two per year, and they are sponsored by the University and hosted by me and a faculty member. Not only does it provide an opportunity for students to learn about wine and to witness and practice drinking in moderation, but it is one of the few events on campus where faculty, students, staff, and administrators spend two hours together engaged in conversation. There has been campus-wide support for these events, usually attended by more than 100 people from around the University.
unabashedmale - April 7, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Just wait.Sue, sue, sue ya….
winelover - April 11, 2010 at 9:32 am
I think it is critical for youg adults to know the difference between drinking fine wine and binge drinking which is not about appreciating quality wine but getting high. What a better way, then than offering them the way to make such determination? Education, I believe , is the key. Once you appreciate the diference and you drink quality wine, you may no longer drink anything else!