Primary School selling beers at sports day?

jollymummy

We don't sell alcohol at events at the school I work at. We don't provide drinks for the children either, they bring in a water bottle from home and refill it in school.

securityguy

pigpen wrote: »

but it isn't just muslim folk who avoid drink which is why I never specified a particular religion I just said some do not drink for religious reasons.. Mormons, Buddhists, Methodists etc also are taught to avoid alcohol.. doesn't mean they all do. There are families from all over the world, all cultures, all religions it would be incorrect to single one group out.. but it would also be wrong to not be respectful of their beliefs.

I doubt there are many, or indeed any, UK schools which are 50% Mormon or Buddhist or Methodist, or indeed all three together, and Methodism and alcohol is like Catholicism and contraception (and "oh noes, won't anyone think of the Methodists" is hardly a major theme). I think it's safe to assume that "think of the people that will leave if there's alcohol" is code for "think of the Muslims".

That aside, there is legitimate debate as to what "respect" means. All schools will contain vegetarians, but no-one suggests that "respect" means never serving meat. Most schools will contain Jehovah's Witnesses, but they will still celebrate Christmas and birthdays.

The contention that others should modify their behaviour out of "respect" for other faiths is bogus, because the adherents of that faith will almost never demand it. The contention that, for example, non-Muslims should not eat in front of Muslims during Ramadan is criticised most heavily by Muslims themselves: not only is it patronising, it also risks sewing dissension. Even MPAC UK, who are hardly cuddly and mainstream, disagree.

sexylulubelle

Well it seems that thread has caused quite a stir....... I suppose with any subject where alcohol is concerned there is always going to be conflict this was not the intention of my post tho:( anyway thank you all for your responses, I have been informed today that they are going to be providing cold drinks at the sports event tomorrow I'm unsure as to what the cold drinks may be but I shall report back tomorrow with an update:)

POPPYOSCAR

sexylulubelle wrote: »

Well it seems that thread has caused quite a stir....... I suppose with any subject where alcohol is concerned there is always going to be conflict this was not the intention of my post tho:( anyway thank you all for your responses, I have been informed today that they are going to be providing cold drinks at the sports event tomorrow I'm unsure as to what the cold drinks may be but I shall report back tomorrow with an update:)

Make mine a G&T please;)

sexylulubelle

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Make mine a G&T please;)

Lol sure:p

pigpen

I, being a devout atheist, would remove MY children if the school were serving alcohol.. religion was ONE reason given for parents not being happy about it but personal preference, parental choice and the fact drunken adults are disgusting to be anywhere near are more reasons.. Given some of the alcohol loosened tongues I have heard spouting off I dread to think where some of the 'conversations' might turn.. it might be entertaining to watch.. but that is not an appropriate arena for such displays.

In the interests of the OTT safeguarding policies I don't see how any school could possibly expect to be allowed to do such things without reprimand. They can't possibly permit a 10 year old to walk home alone or unlock a gate 5 minutes before school kick out time but could allow their parents to become intoxicated when they are meant to be there to see their children doing their sports day.. I doubt very much the LA's would smile sweetly if they knew about it.

What would happen if one of these parents having had a few warm beers was not 100% with it on the way home and sweet little sproggit got squished crossing a road?

Yes, I am the friend who comes out and drinks lemonade all night .. and isn't even the designated driver!!

Tiddlywinks

I went to school in an Irish / Italian area of London... I fondly remember the priest hanging off his ladder whilst holding a pint and providing commentary for the donkey derby...

Kids saw parents having a great time and enjoying a pint without falling over drunk - actually quite a good lesson in appropriate drinking rather than the drink-til-you-fall-over kind of attitude a lot of kids get from the telly.

Selling beer at an outdoor event - after noon of course - is not that big a deal, is it?

katie1812

Woahhh that's totally unacceptable in my eyes! If the school I work in did that I know there would be many a member of staff against it! That is so not the image a school should want to give, to their children and the rest of the public and the day is supposed to be about watching their children have fun, being with their friends not for the parents to be sitting in the sun drinking a beer!!

valk_scot

I've been to kids sports days at my nieces' posh school where the parents were encouraged to bring their own picnic lunch, alcohol at your own discretion. Well, it was a lovely idea to have the picnic but as per usual the whole thing was spoiled by the minority with no self control. Shrieking mums on the champers and Pimms, loud and belligerent dads with a beer in their hand getting stroppy about "cheating" in the nursery egg and spoon race. (Not joking about this last...) There were a lot of complaints so the school introduced a no alcohol policy the following year. There were a lot of complaints about that too....

It's not the presence of beer that's the problem. It's the presence of grown ups that should know better getting plastered at what's supposed to be a children's event. There seems to be a strong conviction in a sector of the population that if one drink is good, two is better and that you can't really enjoy yourself without several more. I've had this argument many times, there are folk who genuinely don't think they (or I ) can have fun while sober, there has to be alcohol involved. I can't drink (it interacts with my drugs, I get falling down incoherent after half a glass of cider) so I clearly don't have much fun, someone even told me that they'd rather be dead than not be able to enjoy themselves.

Anyway, back to beer at sports days. Nope, don't see the point myself. If they want to have a fund raiser have a home baking and lemonade stall, or an ice cream stall. Something that will enhance the experience for the kids.

Idiophreak

bylromarha wrote: »

Lets face it - there is so much non alcoholic beer/wine/cider on the market these days, why is an alcoholic drink needed to be sold at these events?

Alcohol ruins far too many childrens lives - school is the only place they feel protected from it.

Alcohol *does* ruin too man children's lives - but the only long term solution to that is to break the cycle and provide decent education about alcohol and how to consume it properly. Making it more taboo will just make things worse, not better.

pigpen wrote: »

What would happen if one of these parents having had a few warm beers was not 100% with it on the way home and sweet little sproggit got squished crossing a road?

You're overlooking two pretty salient points here.

1) Teachers are selling the alcohol...they're not going to server someone "a few pints", especially if they look like they're "not 100%".

2) If someone's got a drinking problem and feels the need to be smashed at 1PM for their kids' sports day, *they're going to be smashed anyway* - they'll be drunk before they turn up and they'll be drunk absolutely irrespective of whether there's a beer for sale at the sports day or not.