Alcohol treated like soft drinks

THE report “Truancy a problem among pupils” (The Star, Oct 1) didn’t come as quite a shock to me, as the issue has been a long and hard battle to fight.
What’s shocking was that “consumption of alcoholic drinks” was among the top of the list, and even smoking probably comes after that.
As alcoholic beverages can easily be bought at even the 24-hour convenience stores and supermarkets, it looks like more and more youths would be able to consume them.
I have seen Malay teenagers (in school uniforms) going into the non-halal section in a hypermarket, looking for alcoholic drinks and grabbing some bottles and cans the moment they spotted them.
To make things worse, they just nonchalantly brought the drinks over to the counter, and the cashier didn’t even bat an eyelid when scanning the bottles and cans.
Nobody bothered to check for their identification or stop them while they were in the section.
Alcoholic drinks are now treated like soft drinks by youths, and if one is seen consuming it, then he or she is often labelled as ‘cool’.
I shudder at the thought of a future of alcoholic youths should the situation worsen.
BIBI,
Rembau.
Source: The Star