Could Paris Teens Teach Glastonbury Teens A Trick Or Two?

I spent a few days in Paris last week, a welcome escape from normal life albeit a pricey one when the British pound is so weak against the Euro. Among other things, my partner and I enjoyed an art exhibition on cannibalism (tres romantic) and a walk (or crab/pigeon-like shuffle) around a 1974 French submarine. The Rodin museum was stunning and my highlight, while a bar near the Pantheon which served us good wine for under seven quid a glass was lovely...

There are other moments of our trip that stand out among the many hours of Metro travel, the wandering of streets and meandering aimlessly in the wrong direction. It's of no surprise to us that we can spend time in a busy city late at night and not witness angry conflict, binge drinking and anti-social behaviour from young people unless we are in the UK - several trips to places like Paris and Barcelona have shown us as much. But maybe we haven't really spread our wings far or frequently enough although it does seem as though teens abroad know how to have a good time in a very different way to our lot.

We stayed in a not particularly central arrondissement but it was a good spot for night life, near a main canal and had many bars and attractions near by.

We ventured back to our hotel on Saturday evening and were interested in the number of teenagers who, in small clusters of six, seven, ten, were sitting around by the canal on picnic blankets…well….having a picnic. It was probably getting on for 11pm, and the area was buzzing with well populated bars and cafes. The teens chose to assemble on the ground with blankets, bottles of beer, wine and glasses, bread, cheese etc and MP3 player on speaker while they all sat and chatted, drank and ate. No fuss, no aggro and completely happy. They were all engaged in conversation, laughing, mucking about in a completely harmless and non-agressive way - being young people out late at night but behaving respectfully towards each other and seeming to enjoy themselves....

Could this kind of thing ever happen on our streets? No doubt countless UK teens already conduct perfectly sociable and responsible gatherings and it is a percentage of our youth who choose to socialise aggressively and dangerously.

Could you ever see a shift in behaviours from our troublesome teens by adopting this European approach to socialising? What would be the outcome of teens decided to host their own sociable 'picnics' on the streets if Glastonbury? Although already thwarted by the ban of alcohol on the streets, could the Police be swayed to encourage this type of civilised social gathering? Discuss the issue and tell us what you think!