Quick, let’s bury the good news about teenagers

OK, let’s just keep this between you and me.

Don’t want to let anyone else know in case it upsets them. We both know how unsettling it can be for people who love to moan about how the country is going to the dogs* and how feckless the young are to be confronted with any evidence to the contrary.

I think I just about got away with sharing that poll finding with you last year about how the number of people thinking our society is broken has fallen.

So fingers crossed, let’s take a risk again:

 Researchers, who surveyed 6,500 young teens, found that drug-taking among secondary school children fell by 12% in the last decade, and one in four 11 to 15-year-olds had smoked at least once, the lowest proportion since the survey began in 1982.

In 2001, almost two thirds of teens said they had tried alcohol but this number fell to 45% in 2011.

Falling incidences of drug-taking, smoking and drinking? Let’s keep it just between ourselves.

 

* Bet you cats are laughing themselves silly over getting humans to adopt that phrase.

* Mark Pack is Party President and is the editor of Liberal Democrat Newswire.

Read more by .
This entry was posted in News.
Advert

3 Comments

  • Richard Dean 6th Aug '12 - 12:49pm

    Personally I think the country IS going to the dogs, and the young ARE feckless. Maybe that’s because I’m old and falling apart.

    IMHO the young SHOULD be trying out a few relatively harmless things like weed, alcohol, and doing things a little outside the rules they have been taught. Without that experience, they will grow into adults that don’t understand much of the world or how to fix it.

    A little bit of pollution can be a good thing. Without a little bit of illness, our immune systems would not exist, and we’d die from the mildest common cold. What’s more important is that we should all come through ok.

  • Fantastic progress while Labour was in government! Vote Labour!

  • Most people who do any work with kids and young adults will reflect on their merits as opposed to the view of the press. The truth is the majority of our young are a huge credit to themselves, their parents and society in general. Let’s shout about it….

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • David S
    The goal of a representative electoral system is not to ensure that this or that party gets elected. The goal should to be to ensure that every voter, or as clo...
  • Paul R
    Jana - There is no mention of any form of “political union” anywhere in the EU Treaties. Indeed, this was explicitly clarified by the other leaders in t...
  • Daniel Walker
    @theakes "first past the post was a winner for us in 2024. Suggest we keep our heads down and live with it." If your opinion on an electoral system—...
  • Paul Holmes
    Rob, you also say that we can't be the party of the NHS or the Environment because Labour and the Greens have those. Surely it is a mistake to abandon whole are...
  • Paul Holmes
    Rob, you offer two possible groups of key target supporters for the Liberal Democrats. However, both are, as you note, just subsets of the affluent middle class...