How Would You React? Kids Caught Drinking Beer in Public

A few years ago in Rehovot, a bold social experiment tested how Israelis react to the growing global issue of underage drinking, which is increasingly prevalent in Israel too.

The experiment, initiated by the Rehovot Municipality and then Deputy Mayor Matan Dill, aimed to send a sharp message to the public about the importance of community involvement in addressing such issues.

In the video, viewers see 11-year-old children sitting on a bench without any parental supervision, holding beer bottles in their hands.

One woman hesitated as she approached them. "Is this normal? Who are you with?" she asked Ariel and Noa, who sat together.

"We're alone," they replied.

"You’re alone?" she appeared puzzled.

"Yes," they answered.

"Why are you drinking beer?" she dared to ask.

"What's the problem?" Ariel retorted, taking another sip from his bottle.

"Who sold it to you?" the woman persisted.

"I took it from my dad’s pantry," Ariel confessed.

"How old are you?" the woman inquired.

"11," Ariel responded.

"And you're drinking beer?" the woman, now quite shocked, questioned further.

Then the scene cuts to a security guard, who approached them and asked why they were drinking. "Because we felt like it," they replied.

"What do you mean, you feel like it?" she insisted and demanded, "Hand me those bottles."

Another passerby, a compassionate woman, sat next to them and asked with a motherly smile, "You're drinking beer? Do you actually like it?" When they answered 'yes,' she offered to buy them something else—orange juice, grape juice, or water—but they declined. "But it’s not for you," she gently argued.

Another citizen who stopped by asked, "Why are you drinking beer?" A soldier, too, explained that it was not allowed and not age-appropriate. "You're 11; you're not allowed to drink alcohol. Are your parents here?" the soldier, an officer, queried.

"No, they’re at work, and they don’t know," Ariel replied.

"Can I have your phone to call your mom for a moment?" the officer asked, receiving a refusal. Consequently, he stated sternly, "Either you let me call your mom, or I’m calling the police. What do you prefer?"

More citizens paused by the children, showing deep compassion and solidarity with warm hearts truly concerned. How would you react in this situation?