A school has announced plans to allow 14-year-old students to consume four beer bottles or 800 millilitres of wine as part of a project on the risks of drink and drugs.
The bizarre booze class is organised by the Templin Secondary School, located in the town of Templin in the German state of Brandenburg, as part of the ‘Better Smart Than Drunk’ project launched by state authorities to fight addiction and binge drinking.
As part of the class, schoolchildren aged 14 and 15 will drink up to four units of alcohol under supervision.
They can choose whether to slurp 800 millilitres of wine, four 33-millilitre beer bottles or four double shots of schnapps, according to reports.
The school sent a letter to parents outlining the project and requesting their permission.
Project leader Carsten Schroeder said: “This is not uncontrolled drinking, instead the whole thing will be conducted like a chemistry experiment.
“It will take place outside school hours and small amounts of alcohol will be consumed.”
Schroeder also explained that they will carry out numerous tests and questionnaires throughout the ‘experiment’.
The project leader cited a similar study which ran from 2008 until 2012 which reportedly showed that participants were less likely to consume excessive amounts of alcohol after leaving school.
However, the project was met with fierce opposition by some parents.
One mother identified as Claudia G. said: “We should educate our children about the risks of alcohol and drugs, instead they are being offered booze by schoolteachers.”
Health insurance company DAK also criticised the drinking experiment.
DAK spokesman Rudiger Scharf said that “children are not guinea pigs” and pointed out that there are other methods of educating students “without using alcohol”.
State MP Roswitha Schier of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) said: “Children from teetotal households are seduced into drinking by peer pressure. We don’t invite students to smoke in order to warn about the dangers of tobacco, because it is simply wrong.”
However, psychologist Miriam Hoff said that the booze class “is in theory a very good idea”.
She added: “It is an amazing opportunity for youths to see what their limits are and what effects take place when they go beyond them.”
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Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
