The National Youth Agency: Comment - Demystifying the demon drink

Learning about alcohol starts early in life. For many of us, drinking is linked to important social rituals - Christmas, weddings, funerals.

As we get older the special occasions become more frequent and less special.

The amount we drink every session increases too but it's still associated with special events. I think back to my own early experiences - a taste of something alcoholic at the dinner table was nothing unusual; Babycham and Cherry B were "something for the children", my generation's alcopops perhaps? We learned that alcohol was a special substance with rules. We learned to respect it.

Our early tastes of alcohol teach us what we like and don't like. Experimenting is part of learning and overdoing it, then suffering the consequences, lets us know how much is too much. My own first memory of drunkenness involved a balance test along the side of the bath. Dad pointed out later that walking along the bath was indication enough that I was somewhat drunk.