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3. Alcohol at School: The Untouchable Taboo in Anglo-Saxon Countries

In Anglo-Saxon countries, alcohol never had a place in schools. Why this zero-tolerance approach, so different from France’s historical stance? A look back at the history of laws, norms, and deeply rooted educational values.

Some contrasts say everything about a nation. While France long poured wine into schoolchildren’s glasses, Anglo-Saxon societies have always firmly and unequivocally banned any form of alcohol at school. This difference is not merely legal: it reflects distinct national histories, collective beliefs, and radically different views of childhood and responsibility.

The ban on alcohol in schools is so old in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia that it’s practically self-evident. As early as the 19th century, most of these countries passed clear laws: no alcoholic beverage could be consumed, distributed, or even brought onto school premises. In the U.S., the temperance movement made the fight against alcohol a major social cause as early as the 1820s. It culminated in the 1920s with Prohibition: an extreme episode that nonetheless revealed a deep-seated distrust of alcohol, seen not as a cultural product but as a public threat.

In the United Kingdom, Victorian education quickly imposed strict rules, where discipline prevailed and school was seen as a moral sanctuary. In foundational texts such as the 1870 Education Act, alcohol was never mentioned, simply because its presence was unthinkable. In Australia and Canada, heirs to this British tradition, the same rigor applies: the slightest breach would be a scandal, even a crime.

In Anglo-Saxon countries, school is not viewed as an extension of the family home. It is a separate space, meant to foster a child’s development away from adult influences and weaknesses.

Alcohol, seen as one of the greatest dangers for young people, has no place in schools. Rare cases of alcohol consumption on school grounds trigger immediate reactions, ranging from expulsion to legal action. Everything serves as a reminder that zero tolerance is non-negotiable.

Prevention, Control, and a Culture of Risk

Behind this severity lies not only the law but a deeply ingrained culture of prevention. From primary school onward, health education delivers clear messages: alcohol harms growth and concentration. Awareness campaigns emphasize the risks, echoed by teachers, parent associations, and sometimes even the police. In the United States, the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, launched in the 1980s, reaches even elementary schools to warn about all forms of substance abuse, including alcohol.

This climate of prohibition is also rooted in social history: alcohol consumption has often been linked to marginalization, domestic violence, and academic failure. In the 1920s and 1930s, alcohol was completely stigmatized in many working-class communities. Later, young people in Anglo-Saxon societies encountered alcohol outside the family sphere, often in rebellion, sometimes in excess, but never in school. Unlike in France, where wine symbolized social or family bonding, alcohol in these societies retained its aura of danger.

Even today, any violation of the rule provokes outrage. The UK, Canada, and Australia multiply inspections, tighten school regulations, and organize regular awareness sessions. American schools enforce zero-tolerance policies, with immediate expulsion for consumption or even possession of alcohol. Legal texts such as the British Education Act or the American Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act leave no room for ambiguity.

This model is not without criticism. Some decry excessive control and the criminalization of risky behavior rather than its management. But the rule remains broadly accepted, upheld by societies that prefer prevention to cure, and that consider school a protective bastion. For Anglo-Saxon countries, neutrality of school environment is a fundamental value, almost sacred.

In France, wine at school was once seen as a rite of passage, a tradition steeped in memory. In contrast, in the Anglo-Saxon world, a categorical refusal prevails, born of Victorian morality and the temperance movement. Two conceptions of childhood face each other: two ways of drawing the line between freedom and safety.