Parents have been warned that they are leading teenagers into harmful drinking habits by allowing them to consume alcohol at home.
Well-intentioned adults are increasingly introducing their children to beer and wine before they hit 18, thinking it will foster a Continental-style respect for alcohol.
But new statistics reveal underage drinking in Ireland is reaching crisis levels with a third of teenagers aged 16 or 17 having already faced their own alcohol problems.
These range from getting ill from excessive drinking, missing school, or becoming involved in drink-related disciplinary issues right up to hospitalisations and blackouts.
And an alarming 6pc of Leaving Cert students are now classified as being "alcohol dependent" as they finish secondary school, according to the My World/UCD/Headstrong study.
Parents were warned by leading addiction treatment organisation Aiseiri that their own behaviour can actively contribute to the problem.
Aiseiri chief executive Paul Conlon said: "Ireland is the easiest place to become an alcoholic and the hardest place to recover. Parents and adults may be unwittingly leading young people into problematic drinking and the risk of addiction because of our acceptance of alcohol as part of the family, as something you do.
Source: Ralph Riegel, Irish Independent, 01/04/14
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