Revealed: The secret (and rather risky) lives of teenagers
Fighting, binge-drinking, drugs and sex laid bare in new survey
THE ‘risky’ lifestyles of Scottish teenagers are revealed in a damning report that details adolescents smoking, using drugs and receiving police warnings.
A third have been involved in a fight, nearly one in five has indulged in ‘public nuisance’ behaviour, and 13 per cent admit binge drinking.
Almost 15 per cent have been stopped by the police – and 12 per cent have been cautioned or warned.
The findings are from a survey of youngsters aged just 14. The research was carried out by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, which is tracking the lifestyles of children born at the turn of the century.
Last night, researchers said the findings were ‘risky behaviours’ linked to puberty. But charities warned they were ‘deeply concerning’.
The Millennium Cohort Study looked at almost 1,300 Scottish 14-year-olds.
It found almost half of teens have tried alcohol and 16.7 per cent have tried smoking. As well as the 13 per cent who admit to having had an alcohol binge – measured as five or more drinks at a time – 4 per cent said they were regular smokers and 6 per cent had tried cannabis.
Some 30 per cent of those asked admitted having ‘assaulted’ someone – defined as having shoved, hit, slapped or punched another person. Almost 15 per cent had been stopped and questioned by the police, and 12 per cent said they had been cautioned or warned.
A total of 17.6 per cent of Scots teens admitted being a ‘public nuisance’ – such as being noisy or rude in a public place – while 5.6 per cent admitted vandalism and 4.5 per cent confessed to creating graffiti. Some 4 per cent admitted shoplifting and 5 per cent to online hacking.
Looking at rates of underage sex, one in ten admitted ‘intimate’ sexual contact with someone by the age of 14, while 3 per cent have had sex.
Dr Aase Villadsen of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies said: ‘These kids have just entered adolescence and started to become experimental, and spend more time with their peers and starting to engage in risky behaviours.
‘The start of puberty seems to be a massive driver, so there’s something that’s happening around that time which is highly related to them engaging in risky behaviours.’
The report states: ‘This paper provides new evidence on the prevalence of a variety of risktaking behaviours among a nationally representative sample of 14-year-olds.
‘Adolescence is a period during which risk-taking increases sharply, with potential long-term effects on health and wellbeing.’
Boys were more likely to engage in risky behaviours than girls, as were youngsters being raised by single parents.
Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said: ‘This research reinforces the importance of children being raised in a stable family home.
‘The amount of time spent with peers is a risk factor for some harmful behaviours.
‘In view of the strength of peer pressure, a stable family can exert a protective influence.
‘Two parents are in a stronger position than one to adequately supervise their children.’
Linda Jardine, director of children and family services for the Children 1st charity, called for interventions before youths reached ‘crisis point’.
She said: ‘Studies show young people are more likely to use substances or engage in other behaviours described in this report as a way of coping with trauma and childhood adversity, so these figures are deeply concerning.’
She added: ‘We need more support services which are also better equipped to understand, identify, respond to and help children to recover from trauma more quickly.’
The Scottish Government said: ‘We’ve taken forward a wide range of actions around children and young people to help prevent alcohol and substance misuse, including imposing the mandatory “Challenge 25” condition for offlicences – making it harder for under-age drinkers to gain access to alcohol – and made it an offence to give alcohol to children or young people in a public place.’
‘Need more support services’