Nothing really too surprising, except this part.
Underage drinking is on the increase, according to research by the Alcohol Concern charity.Pretty alarming, huh?
Indeed, if we look at the latest published government statistics on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people (page 137), we can see exactly how scary that increase looks in graph form.
Yes, underage drinking is still decreasing just as was reported the last time these figures were released. So how did Alcohol Concern manage to come to the opposite conclusion? After all, it's not like they could have missed the highlighted 'key findings' box, is it? (page 121)
● 45% of pupils said that they had drunk alcohol at least once. This was at the same level as in 2010, and maintains the downward trend since 2001 when 61% of pupils had drunk alcohol.
● In 2011, 12% of pupils had drunk alcohol in the last week. This continues a decline from 26% in 2001
● The reported frequency of drinking continues to decline. In 2011, 7% of pupils said they usually drank at least once a week, compared with 20% in 2001.It seems that, if government statistics don't fit in with AlCon's agenda, they just cobble together their own. A cynic might even be tempted to believe that Alcohol Concern just say anything to justify their non-jobs, doncha think?
Another day, another fake charity fable goes unchallenged in the nation's media.
