When I was a young teenager the most common way in which we (knowingly) pushed the boundaries of the law involved going to the pictures
Anybody could get in to see a film Certificate U. But if you wanted to see an A-rated film you either had to be, or to be accompanied by an adult
Adult meant aged 14 or over. Along with a lot of other legal age limits I guess it had just never been adjusted in line with the raising of the school leaving age to 15
It was common practice to go to the pictures with your friends, no adults needed
One way to get into an adult film was just to hope that the lady in the box office did not challenge you when you went to buy your ticket
But the dilemma was that you then had to pay the full price. Apart from the universal instinct not to pay more than you need for anything, or just not being able to afford it, what if the lady in the box office henceforward insisted on your paying adult price every time
So the most usual tactic was to hang around outside until a suitable-looking adult came along, who would agree to buy a child ticket on your behalf. Motherly looking ladies who might sympathise with childish anxiety were a good bet, but so were grown up young men of 20 or so
All this depended on a delicate system of social control in small town 1950s England. First, parents made a judgement as to whether their child was mature enough to cope with going to the pictures with their friends. The lady in the box office no doubt made her own judgements about whether any given A film was truly unsuitable for our sensibilities. And we had to be perfectly confident that the adults we approached would, at worst, just tell us to Get away with you
It undoubtedly shocks me these days to see children on the bus on Friday evenings, so young that not even the sternest driver would demand to see the pass which proves they are entitled to pay half-fare, armed with half bottles of vodka or 2-litre bottles of strong cider.
I should be very surprised if any of them could have bought these in any of the supermarkets which I use. I suspect friendly adults must be involved, or at least children who look old enough to get away with presenting fake id
The problem is that no unrelated adult feels very confident now about showing disapproval in any way
But what on earth do the parents think about their children being hung over on Saturday morning?
This is not just a problem of disadvantaged children from the lower social classes or disadvantaged backgrounds. Think Cornwall at the beginning of the public school summer holidays
And anyway how can we expect youngsters to believe that getting drunk is not a good way to celebrate & have fun when that is what adults all around them do. They talk quite openly about how they cannot remember what happened on Saturday night
Even journalists & presenters on, for example, Radio 5 Live, talk to each other & their interviewees as if getting plastered were a normal reaction to any big match (win, lose or draw) or significant life event
Related post: Children & Social Control
