Tens of thousands of 11-year-olds are getting drunk at least once a month
Posted on 08/31/2007 10:41:45 AM PDT by Stoat
Tens of thousands of 11-year-olds are getting drunk at least once a month
A "hard core" of young teenagers is drinking to increasingly dangerous levels every week, it has emerged.
Tens of thousands of 11-year-olds are also getting drunk at least once a month, despite a drive to cut soaring numbers of young drinkers.
Four out of 10 pupils aged 11-15 have tried smoking at least once, and a majority of young smokers are illegally served in shops.
The official survey of tobacco, alcohol and drug use among 11-to 15-year-olds reveals the number of school-age drinkers is falling overall but a hard core is consuming more each year.
Regular drinkers aged 11-13 are consuming more than 10 units a week — double the amount in 2001 — while 6,000 11-year-olds also smoke once a week.
Older teenagers who drink regularly are also downing 11.4 units a week, a rise of one unit on last year and the equivalent of five and a half pints. Half of this group are binge-drinking up to two days a week.
The Government said the figures are a success story because 45 per cent of school pupils have never drunk alcohol, a rise from 39 per cent four years ago.
But campaigners said tens of thousands of young people are still damaging their health by increasing their consumption.
Frank Soodeen, of Alcohol Concern, said: “The overall number of young drinkers may be going down but there is now a core of young people who are finding it much easier to get hold of alcohol because of a lack of parental support and the wide availability of drink.”
Today's report shows that one in five pupils is getting drunk once a month, including four per cent of 11-year-olds.
With more than 611,000 children this age in England, it suggests almost 24,500 could be drinking to excess every week.
The survey of 8,200 pupils at 288 schools shows that nine per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds are smoking regularly. The majority buy cigarettes from shops.
The legal age for buying tobacco will rise to 18 in a month but Amanda Sandford, of lobby group Action on Smoking and Health, said shopkeepersare likely to break the law.
“There are huge problems here with retailers not carrying out thorough checks,” she said.
It won’t be a problem in the future when Sharia law is imposed by the Muzzies.
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