Youth Drinking

• Ed Balls has launched a national advertising campaign to raise awareness of how alcohol can make young people vulnerable to problems such as unwanted pregnancies, road traffic accidents and poor marks at school.

• Research shows 80 per cent of young people who felt their parents would disapprove of them drinking had never drunk alcohol. However statistics also show that many parents do not speak to their children about alcohol until their child gets drunk for the first time. The campaign aims to get parents talking to their children about alcohol earlier, to help the family work together to build a safe and sensible relationship with alcohol.