Much as I hate to rejoin this rather polarised debate where we don't seem to be achieving anything other than alienating each other (which some people seem to be keen to do), I'd like to point out that I believe that you have it the wrong way around Baboonery.

I am not suggesting (nor are others seriously, I don't think) that placing children in a place removes the problem drinking. The problem is that there should be a distinction in the first place between places that children should and should not go into.

I am not a fan of the game (so excuse me if some of this is simplistic and inaccurate), but let me attempt to move this away from one emotive subject (alcohol) to another (football).

Do you think kids should not go to football matches? Once upon a time, the terraces were places where anyone could go. But as the issue with 'problem' fans grew and fights could break out, fewer families went. The result was the creation of fenced off areas for 'problem' fans to separate and try and make the other areas safer, which of course concentrated the trouble makers and made the chances of trouble at the game even greater.

The solution was to deal specifically with the trouble makers, and remind fans that games are for everyone to enjoy. As more and more kids, and even families, started to attend, the total level of trouble has diminished.
OK, so a simplistic analogy, but others who are more familiar with football will hopefully see parallels.

You do NOT deal with problem drinkers by creating little ghettos where they can escape to and 'anything goes'. You remind people that alcohol needs to be treated with respect, and you encourage the younger generation to do the same.

This is not the same thing as saying that kids *should* go to the pub, nor that they should be allowed to run riot if they are there. Those are separate issues (which I tried to allude to by saying it is as much a problem in parks, buses, restaurants, shops, etc.). Do not confuse parenting issues with a still-socially-ingrained habit of 'escaping' to places where alcohol is consumed to excess.

There are lots of good reasons children should not go to pubs, particularly in the evening, but "because it is a place where adults can go to drink to excess and do not want to be interrupted" is nowhere near the top of the list.

... and just to finish, one of the reasons I feel strongly about this is that I work in the business of marketing and selling alcohol to consumers. Of course I'd sell more (in the short term) if you were all drunkards and got sloshed every night, but the alcohol trade is awake to the issues of problem drinking in this country and we want to make sure it continues to be available and does not get regulated out of existence. Prohibition anyone?

When a poll was conducted across several countries of the world, the UK stood out by being the country where the number one reason for drinking alcohol was "to get drunk".

Maybe a good place to start would be to ask ourselves that same question.