Did the punishment fit the wine?

Savs
Thu, 28 May 2009 14:15:49 +0000

Well, you should know the chaperons going pretty well… are they strict? Would they really go through all the trouble of reporting you?

Last year, I went to Brazil with my school. We were all 16 and 17, and the drinking age there is 18. No one ever carded. For two nights in a row, we were allowed out on the town (a small, safe, touristy one) on our own, and both nights 95% of the people got drunk. The chaperons weren’t stupid… they knew. But they turned a blind eye. Partly because they knew we were safe (they WERE strict about curfew) and partly because they didn’t want to go through the trouble of reporting it, possibly having to send people home, and then having to deal with it when we got back. Not to mention the danger of canceling future trips because of this.

But then, we knew we wouldn’t be caught, so there wasn’t much danger. Just access your risk. Is a little wine or a cocktail worth not graduating? Heck no. Is it fun to go a little wild and have some fun in a foreign country if there’s not much danger? Oh, yes.