I AM writing in relation to the photograph supporting the article entitled "School boozers: A lesson to be learned?" which was published in the BEN on Monday, October 22, 2001.

Just to clarify, this picture is of me and I am aware that this is the second occasion on which you have published it. Admittedly, on this occasion I was under-age (I will be eighteen this month), but I find it unbelievable that I am old enough to get married, have kids, pay taxes and national insurance, have a job and yet still not be able to enjoy a quiet drink with my friends.

I think it's a defamation of my character considering I have passed my GCSE's (gaining A-C's in all subjects), work full-time and pay taxes that contribute to the well-being of the local community. So I find being stereotyped as a drunken yob that takes pleasure in causing trouble; a naive point of view from an uninformed reporter.

It's sad to think my character has been judged on the basis of a can of Budweiser. I sincerely thought that our society had progressed beyond such bigotry where a man or woman should be labelled a dreg of society just because he or she is having a drink. If that's the case, then everyone in the country should be locked up.

I broke the law, but someone should question if the law is just, and if it is then why I am being paid less than an 18-year-old for the same amount of work, or why won't the government allow me to have a drink and yet still expect a substantial percentage of my wage equivalent to someone who CAN have a drink? And, incidentally, can then wreak havoc along Bradshawgate on a Saturday night.

John Wilkinson

Farnworth

Bolton

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