A question of age…
“What age do you think it’s OK to start drinking and why?”
“Who do you think should be giving information about alcohol to young people and why?”
– Dr Mark Hamilton
Drinking is an undeniably a favourite pastime for many British adults. But move any discussion to the topic of alcohol and under 18s and you may find the topic becomes heated. It’s a controversial subject that impinges on social, health and parenting issues.
That’s why Radio 1’s resident doctor, Mark Hamilton has teamed up with the government’s Department for Children, Schools & Families to find out more about what you think. You can let them know by answering Dr Mark’s question or going to the consultation site.
As part of this consultation Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer says:
“Evidence shows how parents can influence young people’s alcohol use, by having strict rules on young people’s drinking; through supervision and management; and through the closeness of their relationships with their children. Parents and carers have asked for clear messages and we do not have all the answers, which is why this consultation has been set up.
“With the help of key stakeholders as well as parents and young people, we hope that this guidance will act as a valuable tool for reducing the impact of youth alcohol consumption on health, crime, violence and anti-social behaviour.”
The Chief Medical Officers’ Guidance on the Consumption of Alcohol by Children and Young People advises:
- an alcohol-free childhood is the safest option – if children drink alcohol, it shouldn’t be before they reach 15 years old;
- for those aged 15 – 17 years old all alcohol consumption should be with the guidance of a parent or carer or in a supervised environment;
- children aged 15 – 17 years old should never exceed adult
- recommended daily maximums. As a general guide, children aged 15 and 16 should not usually drink on more than one day a week, children aged 17 should drink on no more than two days a week;
- parental influences on children’s alcohol use should be communicated to parents, carers and professionals. Parents and carers need advice on how to respond to alcohol use and misuse by children;
- support services must be available for children and young people who have alcohol related problems and their parents
For more information or to get involved before the closing date of 23rd April 2009, please visit: www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations or email alcohol.consultation@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
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Giving information like the above gives children an idea that it is ok to drink alcohol as long as you don’t exceed your limit, e.g for 15-16 year old, no more than once a week.
frankley i this its a load of rubbish i do not think this will stop binge drinking its there own choice its down to the parenting my mum doesnt mind me having a drink at christmas or over a meal and because she does let me i dont feel the need to go out and binge on it i would rather sit in front of the tv and watch a film with a bag of wotsits than have a running with a bad liver and with the credit crunch its the most stupid idea any body has thought of now the prices are going up it will not only reduce sales it will make the dissapear in a puff of smoke the goverment sould be tackling the real problems out there not a couple of teenage children trying to be hard if we ignore them they will soon get bored
The question goes beyond age. It includes example. Our children were offered wine from quite an early age and now know a lot about wines, beers and other drinks. They know how to handle drink and how to resist peer pressure. Drink is a jumping-off point in adulthood and must, like attitudes to sex, be handled with delicacy and tact. If the example of parents is wrong then the children cannot be expected to be right.
“Giving information like the above gives children an idea that it is ok to drink alcohol as long as you don’t exceed your limit, e.g for 15-16 year old, no more than once a week.”
ehm i think hes trying to say it is okay for for 15-16 years old to drink if its no more than once a week, how is that not clear…..
The chief medical officers guide on the age of drinking is absurd. How can a text book, tick box professional give this very poor advice on the superhighway. I am a fully fledged Alcoholic, who is nowin his seventh year of recovery. Alcohol stole 25 years of my life, it cost me my career, my family and ultimately led to to prison and psychiatric hospitals. Non of this was by choice, my withdrawals became so intense I could not go more than 6 hours without a drink, my body would wake me up from a very disturbed sleep, if I did not have my chemical fuelled super lager, I would take alcoholic fits, that would tear on my muscles and contort my jaw. I belive there are three types of Alcoholic, type1 as mine is genetic, type 2 a chemical addiction that has accumulated over the years, and left the victim dependant, as that what alcohol is, a chemical, and type 3 a deep subconcious trauma where the victim seeks, escapism, or oblivion, where the individual has a need to forget. These victims of alcoholism are usually victims of some for of abuse. I have personally lost dozens of associates over the years to alcoholism. If the drink did not kill them, then it was a consequence of their drinking. Liver disease is a slow painful death, a friend of mine lay in a hospital bed in agony for days before she died, eventually she vomited up her own lungs. Alcohol does not only harm the Alcoholic, but it tears families apart, it causes, povity, violence, child abuse, self neglect, and impacts on the childs education. There is also the financial impact it has on our emergency services. I will finish off here but I could talk about Alcohol and it effects on the individual and society all day long, but do people listen? Alcohol can also take you to thr streets, I have been there, in the early nineties, yes a rich city like London, but most people walk on by, you see they think Alcoholism is self inflicted, but this is due to their ignorance, rather than scorn. If any fifteen year old is thinking of taking up drinking then take it from me, the horses mouth beware, it will take you to some very undesirable places, it will pretend to be your friend but will bring you nothing but misery, anguish and pain. Beware if your family have a history of drinking, I took my first drink at 14 and was a gripped by 20. I am now a trustee at WASP Welling Alcohol Service Provision, trying tohelp others, and trying to prevent the horrors I experienced through my alcoholism. WASP does have a web site, which we are in the progress of updating. Alcoholism will always be with me, but remember it is very weak, and harmless if it is left in the bottle. These days, I say I would rather have a frontal labotamy, than a bottle in front of me. To any suffering Alcoholics out there, drink can be beaten you only need to believe in yourself, life is great without alcoholism, and friends and family do learn to forgive and forget. Good Health to all that need it. PHIL
Who cares, it will make no difference. My parents let me drink, I have drunk alcohol since I was about 10 and now I know my limits and I won’t get pissed on shitty alco-pops and white lightning I will drink stuff that actually tastes good. People desire what is out of reach, and if you put all alcohol out of reach of kids then the kids will drink anything they can get they’re hands on. If your like my parents and let me try all different stuff and make no big deal out of alcohol then it means I’m not really bothered about drinking. I do drink, but I don’t drink shitty chemical filled rubbish. Just my opinion
If you take the time to read Phillip Holmes comment above and then Arthbh this clearly shows thr problems that can occur and where a lot of the problems start. Parents should take a lot more responsibility for educating their children on the use of alcohol at an early age and NOT encourage their children to drink. You only have to walk down a high street in the UK late at night to see how many very young people are out staggering around and in many cases are out of control due to excessive alcohol consumption. If parents will not do something about this problem then I am in favour of a total ban on alcohol for under 18s
A total ban on alcohol for under 18s. Problem is not just alcolhol, its parents laziness in some caese, too much so called understanding, and a total inability to say NO to kids on all things. Too much LET HIM DECIDE, attitude on kids who realy need firm guidance and to know their limits, less than that leads to confusion and what we have now realy. At my age to scared to go out at nights I feel sorry for these mixed up kids it will take generations to put right. Maybe these kids now will remember their confusions and be firmer with their kids.
Parents (if they drink wine with food) should let their children have a little occasionally with their meals too, I’d suggest from thirteen on – perhaps on special occasions (Christmas or Easter) to begin with. I’m assuming the parents drink in moderation, of course. This is how Italian and other northern Mediterranean children are brought up. As a result, wine isn’t a mystery and is rather seen as what it is, a foodstuff, and they don’t have the problems we do with excessive drinking.
What we need to do, though, is to encourage older teenagers to go out to eat together rather than to drink together. That would make a real difference to their drinking habits.
If the government and the health service were genuinely concerned about the effects of alcohol (and tobacco) steps would be taken to reclassify it as a class A or class B drug, thus making it illegal to produce, sell, possess or consume it, but I cannot see that happening as the government obtains so much revenue each year from the sales.
as a ex “drink dependant” adult i personally know the dangers of alcohol and the increase in teenage drinking is obviously a big worry however the solution is hard and to the point education
showing alcoholics suffering dt,s and fitting would show what happens when drinking spirals out of control,and this should be shown to people who get arrested for drink related issues
anyone who gets arrested on a regular basis should be prescibed “antabuse” to help them stop drinking and most importantly the period between admitting to a drink problem to treatment should be less,i had to wait 14 weeks to begin my home detox(librium 10 day detox) however it worked and i have now been 6 years without a drink
drink will allways be part of society but whats needed is education at home,however when we are told that something is bad its human nature to give it a go,because its bad we do it,its the “dont put your hand in the fire” syndrome
in regards to the italian and mediterranean way of life well the same happens in germany,the family will sit in the bar all day and eat lunch and dinner at the bar,but getting drunk isnt any part of the day
so the answer is as follows
1.bigger fines for selling alcohol to under 18,s
2.quicker treatment to alcoholics
3.better teaching of the dangers of drink
4.health warnings on cans of strong lager and cider
im not trying to be a party pooper but unless more is done to stop the rise in underage drinking then we will begin to see under 18,s with scorosis of the liver which was unheard of only 10 years ago
lets get this sorted before it spirals out of control
Honestly and at the risk of sounding bad, I can say that I started drinking on the streets with friends aged 14. This did us no real harm and I think it is something that every kid goes through, especially in some of the rougher areas. No government warning or scheme can stop this as it is a British sub culture and anyone that tries will be dismissed. I don’t know what the answer is. Kids don’t care to hear about health as they’re so young that they think it doesn’t affect them, so maybe the best thing would be for schools to offer advice on the associated dangers instead and hope for the best.
I am a young girl of 15, yes I have had a drink myself. I have not had to have it without my parents knowing, they both give me permission to drink because I am under there supervision.
I dont think parents should completly say no to thier children, because the fact that they are not aloud means they are more likely to go out and find it somewhere else, however if they do allow us under 18s to have a sutiable amount of alcohol we will not feel we have to do things in secrecy or to binge drink. And if parentsdo let the under 18s drink then when they are offreed it, they will not only be used to it because they have had it before but they will no there limit, and this will help them to make a decision themselfs. But for those drinkin underage, that go to far, this is not just effected by their choices but by the way parents act. i .e if your parents act like children themselfes, acting immature then we get the same idea this is how we are influenced, so it is how parents act as well.
Its also not a good idea to completly ban it for under 18s because it is 18 at the moment to drink in pubs, and you still have the problem of binge drinking so this hasnt solved anything. Kids stand outside shops and ask the adults to get the drink for them. so peraps you should conisder introducing from the age of about 13, so this way it will not have such a big effect as it has at the moment .
I felt I had to express that , from a youngsters point of view, and perhaps try asking mature sensible teens what they think off the situation.
If a youngster can get hold of alcohol cheap and easily (no I.D) then of course they will do it!!. It would be like offering a child some candy and not expecting it to shovel it down it’s throat eagerly and give a jot about tummy ache!!. These are the things that the goverment need to focus on……tougher laws for shop owners who sell to minors and putting an end to happy hours and special deals (BOGOF,half price).
I do also believe that parents play a major role in their childrens attitudes towards drinking. As an individual who grew up in an enviroment where alcohol was part of having fun and was widely trivialised…….i grew up thinking it was okay to drink and never really considered he consequences because all i ever saw was the good side of alcohol….i was naive. Im just glad that i know now, so that i can teach my children about it and avoid a perpetuating circle.
There are far worse things to give kids than alcohol. Most grown ups do it unknowingly from an early age.
The snag is that doctors are badly informed by the government. They think chemical sweeteners are ‘the healthy option’. Anyone can now search out for themselves what the truth is by simply looking to the Internet.
The FDA were forced to release a list of side effects associated to Aspartame – it has 92 known side effects yet the UK government still insist it is safe.
Look at the conditions that have increased since it was widely introduced in ‘95:
Obesity – People getting fatter for no reason.
Behavioural Problems – Road Rage, Truancy, Insolent Kids.
Asthma –
Birth Defects –
Mystery Illnesses -
The list is long and alcohol is not the root cause of society’s problems – Aspartame is.
http://www.sweetpoison.com
The reason there are so many youngsters drinking on the streets is that it is much harder now for them to get into pubs or clubs. I grew up in the early 70’s, started work at 15yrs and started pubbing and clubbing at the same time. There was no way that I looked 18yrs, but I never ever got refused a drink, this was the same for a lot of people I know. By going to the pubs and clubs I learned a healthy respect for people as there was always someone older who would sort you out if you started causing trouble. If I was about in this day and age then I would most likely be one of the youngsters on the streets as I wouldn’t be able to get in a pub or club, I wouldn’t want to be stuck in home with my parents, so what else would there be for me to do. There are countries in the world that have no age limit for drinking alcohol and there societies have hardly any problems with drink issues. The young have always rebelled by doing things that are illegal, if you make it legal then it’s not such a big deal and they don’t get such a buzz. The law as it is now is just forcing kids to do things on the streets that they would normally have got away with in the relative safety of a public house, and with these youngsters being on the street they are attracting even younger ones to join them. I think the age should be lowered to sixteen or abolished altogether, landlords should then start using there powers of evicting people if they are drunk or causing trouble. It may take a couple of years for things to settle to a normality, but after that I think things would be o.k.
My parents allowed me to drink small amounts (e.g. tiny glass of wine, a taste of my dad’s beer) since I was a child. Literally as long as I can remember. They have never, ever imposed any rules about how much alcolhol I can or can not drink. I am now 19 years old and have NEVER been drunk. I have no urge to binge, and can’t imagine I ever will. Most I’ll have is a couple of beers or single measure JD&cokes in the pub once a month or so.
I have friends whose parents were similar to mine, and they also have healthy attitudes to alcohol and don’t drink too much. Compare that with a couple of people I know whose parents were very strict- the second they got to university, they went off the rails and made themselves very ill, having no concept of what their limits were, too eager to try this mysterious “grown up” thing they’d always been denied.
I don’t think this is any conincidence. If people would stop treating young people like morons and alcohol as something to be feared, and maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.
To be fair i dont think the government have thought through the whole law that well.
At 17 you can drive a car and at 18 you can drink and frankly driving a car is much more dangerous than drinking.
Considering that of the law in Holland you can drink and buy at 16. They dont seem to have the binge drinkers like we do in Britain.
I think the we need to re-think the ‘nagging’ of binge drinking and educate.
Im 16 years old and i drink, iv have drank alot at times, when i know i should have not because iv done alot of bad things in the past, but today i think that they can easily get there hands onto it e.g using a older sisters or brothers I.D
teenages drink because they think everyone else is doing it then why cant i? also there are other factors such as trying to get away from reality because they are stressed with life. Putting a ban will just make teenages rebel more and try and get it with other ways
Anyone would think that Alchoholic drink is the ‘be all and end all’ of all the things that life has to offer, big mistake! There are so many other things to take an interest in other than ‘alchohol’, it only serves to make one behave stupid anyway, and who wants to knock about with ’silly billies’. People give way so easily if one is intoxicated, which just goes to prove that it has such a hold on you that you cannot truly ‘be yourself’ whilst under the influence.We ought to be in control of our lives, otherwise people can easily get hurt..I’ve seen young people drunk and they don’t know what’s happening to them…their brain totally ’shumphed’. I’d rather wake in the morning ‘remembering’ what kind of night I had rather than worry what could have gone on. Enjoy your evenings out yes, but keep your wits about you too.
Im 14 and I know many underage drinkers and trust me some of their parents are extremly strict on alcohol but it still happens. I think sometimes kids drink to be cool because its breaking the rules and others do it to have a good time just like adults want to really.I think if you let people drink when there 14 and go in pubs then they could go in a pub and at least they could’nt drink too much then.
I think people who give information to children on drinking should have be re-formed alcoholics but instead of just telling us not to drink they should tell us limits of how much you should drink if you do, not just put us off all the time.I think u should be aloud to drink at 14 but not get drunk.
im 15 i know my limit i had my first drink at 8 i first got drunk when i was 14 but i only drink on special occasion and my parents let me do this. so i might get drunk maybe 10 times a year
People seem to forget the importance of peers in these situations. Any child who has a friend who drinks and seems to have great fun is going to be affected. The parents are an important control on a childs views of alchol. There is too much exageration concerning liver disease and binge drinking. There is a difference between binging and heavy drinking.
I, being a teenager myself, have been on all sides of this and seen all sides of this. My parents don’t drink, and I was brought up knowing that I can have a beer or alcopop once in a while, as long as it is under somebody’s supervision. Nevertheless, at one point I did make a mistake (and I am never going back again). My “friends” on the other hand, hang out on roads, drunk, almost every night. The reason is not that they don’t understand the health consequences. At this age we feel immortal. So what is the reason? THEY HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO.
Us kids are seen as a disease. During our exams you give us a chance to shine; and boy do we shine (exam results have been improving tremendously)! Then we are told it proves our stupidity and that exams are simply too easy. Right.
Many teenagers are shoved aside by those who don’t want to catch this “disease”. They are looked down upon by club owners and thrown out. Eventually, these children are so deluded they become diseased. Of course there are always the bad eggs, and there always will be, but there is little to do about those that enjoy harming themselves.
There need to be more constructive things for these kids to do, and they need to be encouraged to BE together rather than DRINK together (as somebody before me so rightly said).
Give us a chance, open up a few 16+ clubs without the alcohol – see what happens.