11-year-olds drinking twice as much as 5 years ago

Drinking among children as young as 11 has nearly doubled in five years according to the Daily Mail. NHS statistics show that a fifth of secondary school pupils admit to drinking regularly. Although this is down from a quarter in 2001, the quantity of alcohol consumed by children aged 11 to 13 who do drink regularly has shot up from less than 6 units a week to more than 10. The NHS also suggests that their survey underestimates the amount of drinking by youngsters.

8200 pupils from 288 schools in England were questioned in the Autumn term of 2006. More than half thought their parents did not mind them drinking, as long as it was not too much. Two per cent said their parents let them drink as much as they liked. 26% said they had been given the alcohol by a friend and 23% were given it by a parent.

Doesn't anybody care what their children do any more?