UNDER-AGE AND OVER THE LIMIT

Few of us can fail to recall our first youthful brush with alcohol; the
inane giggling, the false sense of confidence and then, inevitably, nausea.
Just a couple of pints of beer, perhaps a few glasses of wine were all that
was required.

But times have changed. What was once a harmless rite of passage has become
a potentially lethal search for oblivion among the young.

While once parents could say with confidence that alcohol consumption was
restricted to the occasional glass at a party, now they must consider a far
more sinister prospect: widespread and regular abuse is rampant.

Jennifer Gelardi was one of the brightest and the best at Millfield, the
Somerset public school where she died. The 14-year-old fell from a roof
after a vodka party to celebrate what turned out to be her last birthday. An
inquest heard of a drinking culture at the school, and that Jennifer had
been quiet and withdrawn; alcohol gave her confidence and won her friends.
On the day she died she was three times over the drink-drive limit after
asking an older pupil to buy a bottle of vodka to "liven up the celebrations".

Irrespective of class or education, our young are drinking more heavily than
ever before. Health education campaigns and lectures are largely ignored,
and perhaps only parents themselves can reverse the trend - they must lead
by example. The stories their children tell should be enough to convince
even the most cynical adult that there is a problem.

As his head began to spin and his stomach churned, Giles Eaton (not his real
name) stared blearily at the empty champagne bottle and realised he was
going to be sick and disgrace himself. Perhaps it was drinking on an empty
stomach, perhaps the heat in the marquee, he said after being carried home
drunk from the wedding reception. It never occurred to Giles that, at 13, he
was a little young to be drinking Bollinger preceded by "a couple of glasses
of Pimm's".

While he nursed a hangover at the family home in Gloucestershire last
weekend, his parents decided to seek help - their son's drinking was no
longer a problem they could ignore.

Now recovered from the hangover, Giles refuses to acknowledge that he has
been caught up in the pernicious culture of teenage binge drinking. His
drunken performance at the wedding reception - the child was found comatose
beneath a table, covered in his own vomit - was "just a bit of a laugh,
something we all do, given the chance".

Giles, bright, musical and from an affluent background, began drinking two
years ago, about the same time he shared his first joint with an older boy.
Cannabis did not suit him, but wine and spirits - always available in the
family home -did.

"Sure, I got sick a couple of times; after a time you just get out of it,
that's the object of the exercise. All my friends are the same, it's what
you do," he says with no hint of bravado.

Until last weekend, his parents, Olivia and Charles, felt it was just "a
phase every child goes through"; now they are "desperately worried" and have
booked an appointment for Giles with their GP, asked to see his teachers and
are considering family therapy. Olivia is worried that he may have been
influenced by seeing his parents drink "a bottle of wine" with meals. "You
wonder whether that provides a bad example," she says. "It worries us that
we failed to notice he was helping himself to the odd drink when we were not
around."

Charles is more angry than frightened at Giles's drinking, but knows the
teenager needs guidance that a parent cannot provide. "I've talked to other
parents and realise that heavy drinking among our children is more prevalent
than we knew. And it's binge drinking, that's the real worry."

His fears are well-founded. Recent government statistics show that last year
1,000 children under 15 were admitted to hospital suffering from acute
alcohol poisoning, and the figure is rising fast.

Jane, a 16-year-old from southwest London who has just sat nine GCSEs and is
expected to go on to university, describes herself as "a sensible drinker".
She "knows her limits" but admits to buying regularly bottles of spirits
with the sole intention of getting drunk. "I don't do it on my own, I feel
more secure in a group. We look after each other, the sober ones make sure
those the worse for wear do not come to any harm.

"People experiment a lot younger now because we are maturing earlier and
have more money and freedom. I first drank wine at home when I was 11; two
years later I looked old enough to buy drink for myself.

"Supermarkets and corner shops are quite easy. I do not have fake
identification but if I needed to get some, I could."

Does Jane see any risk attached to alcohol? "Not really; it's less dangerous
than tobacco or soft drugs. My only real worry is throwing up, it's so
horrible, so embarrassing."

Amanda, 15, also from southwest London, hopes to win a place at art school.
She does not like spirits but drinks them anyway. Her parents have no idea
she spends her allowance on vodka and fruit juice mixers to mask the flavour
of the alcohol.

"I am not worried about becoming a drunk," she says. "I don't really need
alcohol, I use it to enhance an evening out with my friends."

But what would convince her to stop drinking? Neither parental pressure nor
nagging teachers would have any influence, she says. "A bad experience might
have an effect, if I had an accident, say, while under the influence.

"The reason educated young people drink more today is the fear of
recreational drugs. You can sleep off a drink but the effects of LSD can
last a lifetime."

Sarah, 16, also spends much of her pocket money on vodka. The two girls -
who attend the same school - are bright, attractive and yet apparently
unaware of the dangers of alcohol abuse.

"I feel mature enough to be able to handle a drink. After all, at 16 I am
legally allowed to get married and start a family. It seems absurd that I
could not drink at my own wedding. I can handle alcohol better than many
adults - I know when to stop."

Without exception, the girls mocked the Government's latest initiative to
prevent the "awful consequences" of teenage drinking and drug abuse. A
parents' guide launched this week by Tessa Jowell, the Public Health
Minister, was described variously as "patronising", "more of the same old
nanny state rubbish" and "a waste of the rainforest".

The comments came as the Health Education Authority decided to update a
guide after figures showed that 96 per cent of children had tried alcohol by
the age of 15. The average weekly amount of alcohol consumed by 11 to
15-year-olds doubled between 1990 and 1996, studies have shown.

The Government's drugs csar, Keith Hellawell, said he hoped the guide would
break down some of the myths surrounding the subject and make parents
realise that drinking can lead to drugs. "We are seeing that young people
who regularly drink alcohol are 22 times more likely to go on to use drugs.
The link between alcohol and drugs is very close."

Gary Ward of the Health Education Authority speaks of "a binge culture.
Parents have an important role - they can set an example. Do not tell your
children they cannot drink while drinking too much yourself.

"Teach them that drinking in moderation is fine but getting wrecked is
stupid. Be down-to-earth, accept that a little experimentation is acceptable
but step in if you suspect regular binge drinking. Above all, lead from the
front. The young can smell a hypocrite from 1,000 miles."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett