Professor Pelc (psychiatry, ULB): “Alcohol problems are not a result of alcohol, but of our behaviour towards alcohol. Our position towards alcohol determines whether the drink will be good or bad to us. It would be much better if we would create a feeling of responsibility among youngsters towards alcohol and to teach them how to enjoy a moderate use of alcohol rather than to act in a repressive way. Youngsters should get the possibility to experiment and to discover. Prohibitions have no sense whatsoever. However, when you teach people how to deal with alcohol and to value alcohol, it will be very unlikely they will start to abuse alcohol. The great connoisseurs of wine for example never turn into alcoholics, disregarding a few exceptions.”

“It is not to be excluded that alcohol abuse by youngsters is the result of a too strict parental prohibition. It is preferable to let youngsters discover alcohol in a progressive way in the family circle rather than to forbid them to drink along.”

“Excesses are never good, but everybody knows that a moderate consumption of alcohol has advantages for one’s health, as compared to total abstinence. For that reason it is wise to teach youngsters to deal with alcohol in a sensible way.”