PUPILS TURN UP WITH WEEKEND HANGOVERS

A COUNCIL is spending UKP20,000 to advise children of the dangers of
alcohol amid concerns that pupils are going to school on Monday
mornings with hangovers from weekend drinking.

The authority is to provide the funding to a drug and alcohol project,
which will provide counselling and advice for teachers, pupils and
parents on all types of substance misuse.

Officials in West Lothian said yesterday that the decision had been
prompted by regular reports from teachers of teenagers arriving for
classes looking the worse for wear.

Alcohol research experts said the increasing use of alcohol by
children as young as 12 in West Lothian mirrored the results of
studies in other parts of Scotland.

Frank Monaghan, West Lothian Council's education officer, said: "It is
becoming more and more apparent the effects of drinking are causing
students to turn up on Monday mornings with a hangover from the weekend."

The council pointed out that over the last four years, 15 people had
died from ecstasy across Scotland but the numbers affected by drink
were much higher. Mr Monaghan said: "It is about time we realised the
real killers are alcohol and tobacco and target the real users."

At present West Lothian offers support for pupils in S3 and upwards.
The funding, which will begin in August, will move support into
primary schools and will also tackle problems associated with smoking.

Mr Monaghan said not enough had been done to tackle the issue of drink
and smoking. Until now pupils caught smoking were given several
warnings before action was taken, and then it was only confiscating
their cigarettes.

"Although this is sometimes effective it is not good enough," he
said.

The funding will allow teachers in West Lothian schools to receive
training in how to talk to pupils about the dangers of drink, drugs
and cigarettes. Pupils who persist in drinking or smoking will be
referred to the drugs and alcohol project for professional help.

Yesterday, one teacher in Livingston said she had seen first year
pupils turning up for class with obvious signs of a hangover.

The teacher, who did not want to be identified, said: "I've seen
children as young as 12 arrive in class late on a Monday morning
hungover and unable to learn anything. I don't understand how their
parents don't notice it, or how they can ignore what their children
are doing.

"The kids themselves seem to think it makes them seem grown-up and
actually brag about how bad their hangover is to each other.

"It is definitely a much bigger problem than drugs in school and its
about time it was dealt with properly."

As well as targeting children who are drinking, the campaign will
provide help for children who come from families with alcohol or
drug-related problems. Counselling sessions are already made available
to pupils caught using drugs. The extra funding will allow them to
cover a wider area of abuse.

A spokesman for West Lothian Council's education department said: "If
we have children coming from a home background where there are alcohol
problems and alcohol is easily accessible to them, then it's not just
a problem for the education department but for social work as well."

Ian Young, the Health Education Board for Scotland's programme manager
for schools, said studies showed that young people were starting to
experiment with alcohol earlier. The most recent figures showed that
22 per cent of 15-year-old boys drank once a week, while 14 per cent
of girls had reported being drunk at least four times.

"There is evidence that consumption levels are going up and
drunkenness is going up," he said. "It's important to raise the issue
of the dangers of alcohol quite early on."