Alcohol addiction warning for parents supplying teens

Parents supplying teenagers with alcohol were leading to alcohol addictions later in life, University of Canterbury College of Education lecturer in human development Nathan Mikaere-Wallis said yesterday while visiting Cromwell High School.

Mr Mikaere-Wallis is in Central Otago visiting schools and meeting parents to discuss the latest research results involving alcohol and teenagers and how alcohol affects developing teenage brains.

New Zealand had a "deeply imbedded" drinking culture and this culture was forming the basis of drinking in New Zealand, Mr Mikaere-Wallis said.

"The younger you are when you start to drink the higher the chance you would have a drinking addiction at some stage of your life."

If you have had your first drink by the age of 14 there was a 47 per cent chance you would suffer a serious addiction to alcohol at some stage of your life, but this lowered to 7 per cent if you had your first drink after the age of 21, he said.

Parents were the main supplier of alcohol to teenagers, with 57 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds saying they had been supplied alcohol by their parents.

This meant it was becoming more and more normal in New Zealand culture for parents to let younger people drink, Mr Mikaere-Wallis said.

Parents were also buying alcohol so they could control the amount their children had, he said.

Dunstan High School principal Brent Russell said although schools had always had alcohol awareness programme, drinking was a huge part of New Zealand's society and the more information teenagers could learn on the subject the better.

The presentation would "add a lot more rigour" to the subject and it was important they had an understanding of the short and long-term effects of alcohol use, Mr Russell said.

Mr Mikaere-Wallis talked to Cromwell High School students yesterday and would speak to Dunstan High School, Roxburgh Area School and Maniototo Area School today.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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