THE Kaieteur News and the Guyana Times have carried reports of an issue in Berbice in which alcohol was found on a student (or students) who was/were on a school tour to Georgetown. It seems as though that some disciplinary action has been taken, including school suspension.

There is hypocrisy at play here in terms of alcohol and children. Any schoolchild travelling around Guyana on a tour will be encouraged to drink not only by the social norms, but also by alcohol advertisements encouraging them to drink.  Ansa McAl has used celebrity Konshens to sell liquor to the people viewing the bill boards and in the minibuses. The drivers play music and the Dee Jays tout other alcohol products, all legally distributed in Guyana.  There are no celebrity role models telling the students not to drink and sports and family events are fuelled by the ‘sponsorship’ of events, no Dee Jay in a minibus saying children don’t drink.

It is sad for a teacher who is well meaning on a school tour to have to battle a society and an industry which encourage drinking.  Children purchase liquor from licensed and unlicensed liquor stores around the country and no seller has been brought to the courts or has had his licence revoked for selling liquor to children.

Many of us Guyanese started drinking long before the legal age, and some stopped while others continued. Punishing a student (and a teacher) for having alcohol without holding the society and industry accountable for the marketing of its products does no one any good. The other children will continue to get their liquor, and the industry will continue to get more profits.