Week Nineteen - There is a Country in the EU Flashcards
There is a country in the EU…
…where alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use amongst teenagers have all declined considerably over a sustained period of time. In the same country, the number of recorded offences committed by young people and the number of court disposals for young offenders are also significantly lower, whilst teenage pregnancy is at it’s lowest for almost 40 years.
The number of recorded offences by young people in the last year of available stats…
The number of recorded offences by young people in the last year of available stats (98,837 in 2013-14) is down by a huge 63% from the comparable figure a decade ago (2002-03).
The number of reprimands, warnings or conditional cautions given toyoung people…
The number of reprimands, warnings or conditional cautions given toyoung people in England and Wales (30,778 in 2012-13)shows a similar huge reduction over the lastten years, down by 64% between 2012-13 and 2002-03.
11-15 year-olds who had ever had an alcoholic drink…
The most recent national statistics (2011) show that the proportion of 11-15 year-olds who had ever had an alcoholic drink had fallen steadily, year-on-year from 61% in 2003 to 43% in 2012
Children who had drunk alcohol in the last week…
The proportion of children who had drunk alcohol in the last week has fallen from around 1-in-4 (25%) to around 1-in-8 (12%).
Children who had never drunk alcohol…
Over roughly the same time,the proportion of children who had never drunk alcohol has increased from 43% (2003) to 55% (2011). Thus, more than half of young people aged 11-15 years have never drunk alcohol.
Whilst the UK may still have higher levels of consumption than elsewhere in the EU, this present a considerable shift in drinking patterns.
Trying smoking…
Fewer young people (26%) trying smoking than ever before, or at least since National Statisticsbegan measuring this in 1982, when 53% of young people had tried smoking.
‘Regularly’ smoke…
Correspondingly, the number of young people who ‘regularly’ smoke (at least once a week) is now half it’s peak of 1990’s, at 5%, around 1-in-20
Drug use…
Drug use amongst young people is also in decline with the latest national statistics (2011) showing that around 1-in-6 young people (17%) had ever taken drugs compared to 29% a decade earlier (2001)
Teenage pregnancy…
Teenage pregnancy is now at it’s lowest rate since 1969 with anunder-18 conception rate of35.5 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15-17.
