Over cautious under age

There has been a recent incident involving yet another misuse of the 'Think 25' scheme, where a mother who had brought her 17 year old daughter with her to Morrisons to go shopping was not allowed to buy a bottle of wine in case it was bought for the youngster.

Even after this case was brought into the public light, the head office refused to admit they did anything out of the ordinary, claiming that there is a reason they brought the think 25 scheme into effect. While clearly this is ammo for the 'Big Brother is watching you' conspiratists(sp?) I happen to believe it is getting close to the point of ridiculousness.

The kids out there who want to drink alcohol at an illegal age may not be the smartest in the world, but I'm quite certain that most, if not all of them, would not accompany any adult they have convinced to buy them said drinks into the shop where they are purchased, if only because it would be very weird and/or suspicious. In fact, if this were the case, then by making the law as strict as Morrisons are, then these kids will learn that this will not get them any alcohol in future and will work around this, most likely increasing the amount of theft.

There is only so much the government can do to try and prevent illegal drinking, and this way will not be a successful method. It only inconveniences normal law abiding people and that makes us more inclined to despise the people who are trying to protect us. For really effective prevention methods, why not try a new spin on it; try and show them that drinking is not as cool as they believe it is. Take this photographers view on a night out in the Welsh capital: Maciej Dakowicz If this doesn't put people off, or at least get them to see it in a different light, I don't know what will.