children as young as 6 binge drinking

[kronas]

it seems the school holidays have left many with plenty of spare time on there hands and children being children make mistakes.....

according research done by the bbc a&e departments across england are finding an increasing trend of young binge drinkers

in one area there were 100 cases reported of youngsters being rushed in to hospital

"Dr Patricia Conrod, a researcher for Action on Addiction, said: "The average amount of alcohol consumed per week by 11-15 year olds doubled between 1990 and 2000."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3185913.stm

i would question how these youngsters are getting hold of alcohol are older people buying it for them or are they stealing it from there houses

what about the parents how are they letting them get away with consuming alcohol where is the supervision these days ?

[Lord Nikon]

Another of my pet subjects :D

I would say that along with the parents, the government is responsible, at least in part.

The government's attitude of "you must be 18 to drink" brings on a binge drinking cycle in kids.

Because they can't buy it, etc it leads to the idea "wonder what its like" so they sneak it, drink it, without knowing the physiological consequences, and end up in A&E

A friend of mine took the attitude with his kids that if they wanted alcohol, they could have it. and he did this from the time they were able to walk. Other parents in his area who knew him thought he was mad, called him irresponsible.

His daughter is now over 18, his son isn't far behind.... Neither of them have ever got too drunk to know what they were doing, neither of them have been to A&E for alcohol poisoning, neither of them have ever abused alcohol. Though the kids whose parents wouldn't let them near alcohol have...

The thing is, with alcohol being age restricted, when kids / 18 yr olds are finally able to get some it becomes a novelty item. It is abused because of its novelty aspect. When you have grown up with it constantly available there is no novelty, no incentive to abuse it.

IMHO the country would be better off if the age limit on alcohol was removed... yes we would have a few months of people abusing it, but after the novelty had worn off I think this problem would smooth itself out.

[kronas]

Originally posted by Lord Nikon

The thing is, with alcohol being age restricted, when kids / 18 yr olds are finally able to get some it becomes a novelty item. It is abused because of its novelty aspect. When you have grown up with it constantly available there is no novelty, no incentive to abuse it.

IMHO the country would be better off if the age limit on alcohol was removed... yes we would have a few months of people abusing it, but after the novelty had worn off I think this problem would smooth itself out.

while i disagree with your idea of lifting the age limit i can see your point

kids will always experiment with alcohol or drugs but the core problem is how they get in to them in the first place i think judging by what i have heard/read about on other peoples experiances of how they got caught up in it at an early age peer pressure has a major influence in it

[Xaccers]

Compare drink use in the UK with that on the continent.
Kids over there are brought up with drink as being part of meals etc.
The whole philosophy of drinking over there is different, it's part of life, something to enjoy, but not to overendulge.
Here most kids think the whole point of booze is to get drunk.

[timewarrior2001]

Since I was 14 I was allowed by my parents to go out drinking in my local. Once or twice I have overdone it and ended up feeling rough. The worst time was when my Grandad was dying in hospital and I drowned my sorrows on a litre of Vodka.
However I also discovered drugs, I didnt bow to peer pressure ot get involved, I started because taking LSD, Ecstasy and amphetamine was way way way cheaper than drinking.

The main reason kids drink on street corners is because they have nothing else to do. It out of pure boredom.

[Dave Stones]

Originally posted by timewarrior2001
The main reason kids drink on street corners is because they have nothing else to do. It out of pure boredom.

why the hell is it always cheap cider or stella though?!

i can say for fact that ive never gone and drunk cheap cider and the "wife-beater's special" as its called round here on a cold street... surely theres warmer places to go... :shrug: