This Would Never, NEVER Happen in the U.S.

Europe can be so whacky some times.

In 2001, the Guardian (U.K.) reported on a new program being instituted in Belgian schools under which children were given low-alcohol beer at lunch in lieu of sugary soft drinks.

The beers were no stronger than 2.5 percent ABV, but then they were also "for children between the ages of three and 15."

Two thoughts spring to mind:

First, why didn't I get to go to grade school in Belgium?

And second, can you imagine the outrage if anyone dared float this idea in America? Even if we were to study such a program for decades and found it to pose zero risk to kids either at the time or later in life, the great American Puritanical spirit would squash such a proposal in a heartbeat.