Stressed schoolkids turn to drink and drugs

An alarming picture of life for children in the Royal Borough has been
painted by an Ofsted survey.

It shows increasingly stressed children are turning to drugs and alcohol and
worrying about their finances in what commentators say is a sad reflection
of the lost age of childhood.

The survey questioned 1,574 school children aged between 10 and 15 last
year, with 70 per cent of them aged under 13.

Half of children, 49 per cent, have had an alcoholic drink and eight per
cent had been drunk three or four times in the last month.

Of pupils aged between 12 and 15, 11 per cent  had taken cannabis and three
per cent said they had dabbled with hard drugs including the likes of
cocaine and LSD.

Money played on the minds of children as young as 10 with a third of the
pupils saying that cash issues bothered them ­ which is higher than the
national average.

This is despite the Royal Borough having one of the highest average salaries
in the country.

Cliff Turner, head of children's services at the Royal Borough, who was 'saddened rather than surprised'  at some of the results, said the data should be taken 'very seriously'.

For more details of the survey and reaction to the findings see this week's
Maidenhead Advertiser.