A leading girls’ school in the UK has introduced a wine-tasting club for its sixth-formers. The move by Malvern St James School for Girls in Worcestershire is meant to educate the teens and curb binge drinking (Hoping they will not be too buzzzzzed).
The girls are eligible to join the club once they start the sixth form at 16, in the Kenyan 8-4-4 system that’s a typical form 2 student! They are the most troublesome lot of the 4 year Kenyan high school programme. I imagine Kenyan teachers squirming at the thought of wine sipping form two’s.
The new-wine club idea is the brainchild of Rachel Huntley who teaches critical thinking at the said school. Though the idea is quite noble, it has become a motivator in encouraging girls to go on into the sixth-form.It is illegal in Britain to sell alcohol to minors (children under 18) but 15-17 year olds can drink in a supervised environment.
An interesting thought, however, is what if the move was adopted by a Kenyan school: ST. YUMMY HIGH SCHOOL wine club for instance, the registration would be overwhelming with probably all the upper classmen and women (read ladies) signing up. Inter-school club ‘underground’ competitions would range from which school has managed to increase the potency of their wine rations to who has managed to mature their own wine in the dorm rooms.
Next Class
Binge drinking is however not a laughing matter and is a growing concern globally as more and more younger teens take up alcohol leading to a myriad of social problems.
The club may seem like an extreme measure especially in a largely conservative society like Kenya. However, it does seem a better option to regulate what the teens do rather than going to bail them out for underage drinking as was the recent case where it was reported that 1000 underage boys and girls were arrested locally for drinking.