Seven o'clock on a Friday evening and a group of 14-year-old girls are sat on Ealing's Haven Green in west London sharing a joke and passing around a cheap bottle of wine. Four empty bottles lay discarded by their sides next to their school blazers.
"Pass it here, Sam," shouts one of the girls. "It's my turn now."
The bottle is handed over to the girl, who takes several large gulps before declaring she wants to get "absolutely wasted" tonight.
Head to most parks on a Friday and Saturday night and the teenage drinker has become a ubiquitous sight. If this sounds far-fetched, it isn't. According to Young People Now's exclusive Mori research carried out in conjunction with the Office of the Children's Commissioner, about one in five 11- to 16-year-olds admit to drinking alcohol at least once a week. And three-quarters of all secondary school pupils surveyed have tried alcohol at least once.
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