What's your poison?

Britian's drinking culture puts pressure on teenagers to pick up a pint and join in.

Our schools have a tough time fitting in alcohol education into a busy academic curriculum, but in a world where teenagers are starting drinking at an increasingly young age, it is necessary to furnish them with the facts.

Fresh Knowledge is a Yorkshire-based alcohol management and counselling service working with schools in the area to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

Underage drinking is escalating among young people.

Today 11 to 15 year-olds drink twice as much as children in the same age bracket did ten years ago and 16 to 24 year-olds are the heaviest drinkers in the UK.

Alcohol is also a factor in accidents, suicides and violence involving 16 to 25-year-olds.

At Joseph Rowntree School, in York, sixth formers are given a taste of what life is like in the world beyond school with staff taking a practical approach to help youngsters cope with the world outside school.

Part of this pastoral care includes cookery lessons for teenagers living away from home for the first time in their lives and also a talk on the dangers of alcohol abuse given by the head of Fresh Knowledge, Sue Stone.

The school's head of sixth form, Sarah Billinge, said: "This is the second year we have run this talk because of the positive feedback we had from last year's students.

"For us, the aim of such events is preparing students for their lives after school and the world of university or jobs. Drinking is part of a student's life at university and some of these young people are 18 and legally able to go out and have a drink.

"This is about them getting the knowledge to go out there and stay safe."

Part of the message Ms Stone brings with her talk is that alcohol is especially harmful to teenagers, as their organs have not developed enough to its combat the harmful effects.

Binge drinking can become literally deadly dangerous, and teenagers today can be ignorant of the consequences of such irresponsible drinking.

Ms Stone said: "Yorkshire has one of the highest proportion of young drinkers in the country and it's hard to say why that is, really.

"We have quite a lot of large rural areas and I think there really isn't that much for them to do and there are issues of boredom."

At Joseph Rowntree School Ms Stone discussed problems the youngsters may encounter out in pubs and clubs, such as drink spiking and ways to prevent this.

She also tried to dispel some of the myths surrounding drinking and it's after-affects, including why lining your stomach before you go out may not always prevent a hangover and why it's too late to drink lots of water or coffee to sober up after a night out.

The 20 youngsters were also given advice on their health and how continually drinking to excess at a young age can lead to health problems in later life, including cirrhosis of the liver.

Ms Stone said: "It's about raising youngsters' awareness of the dangers they are putting themselves into out on the streets. You have to drink responsibly, otherwise there are consequences."

York Press