The Telegraph – Javier Espinoza
” Teenagers are drinking and smoking less than they did a decade ago as they spend more time online than being rowdy with friends, new research has shown. The percentage of 14 and 15 year old boys who have drunk alcohol in the past seven days has dropped from 32 per cent last year to just 15 per cent this year. Separately, in the last decade the percentage of both girls and boys who drink and smoke has dropped sharply, according to data by the Schools and Students Health Education Unit (SHEU). In 2005 the percentage of boys who drank alcohol within the past week stood at 37 per cent for boys and 41 per cent for girls. The percentages stand at 15 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. A decade ago, 16 per cent of boys said they smoke regularly and 26 per cent of girls said they did so as well. The figures are now 9 per cent for boys and 18 per cent for girls.”(more)