Schools' wake-up call for hungover teens

Secondary school heads are demanding that 20 be reinstated as the drinking age after reporting that hungover pupils are struggling to stay awake during lessons.

Weekend binge drinking is making the pupils, some as young as 15, impossible to teach because they are exhausted by booze and drugs.

Ministry of Education figures show that in 2004, 3116 students were either stood down or suspended for bringing drugs and alcohol to school - 135 were between 5 and 10 years.

"Some students just tend to go to sleep on a Monday, and it's obvious they have been partying all weekend, not just Friday night but right through to Sunday afternoon," said Otamatea High School principal Haydn Hutching. "A few even smoke marijuana before school and we need to stamp this out."

He said he had just suspended four students for either possessing or smoking drugs at school after police sniffer dogs were brought in to check all 520 students. Another 15 pupils who had been "in contact" with drugs were identified and warned.

Some schools randomly test students who have had a previous drug issue, but Hutching is calling for school-wide testing.

He is one of many principals opposed to the lowering drinking age from 20 to 18, believing it has made alcohol more accessible to teenagers.

But he accuses some parents of supplying their children with alcohol for parties and says attitudes to teen drinking need to change.

Principal of Rodney College in Wellsford, Julie Small, said her school dealt with students struggling to cope with classes on Monday because they were recovering from Saturday night.

"We believe this is a trend happening throughout New Zealand," she said.

Hamilton Boys' High School headmaster Susan Hassall said a small minority of boys - often 15 years or older - overindulged in alcohol on weekends and were not mature enough to realise the effect this has on their studies and health. "The lower drinking age has been a real disadvantage, as it allows easier access to alcohol when many teenagers are just too young to deal with it."

Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand president Graham Young - also the principal of Tauranga Boys' College - believes that while alcohol has always been a problem, bigger problems are posed by the variety of substances readily available. "A few generations ago there was just beer, but now there's a range of alcoholic drinks, party pills and drugs like marijuana or worse that they can access." He said while these problems were not unique to New Zealand, the binge aspect of alcohol consumption did seem peculiar to Kiwi culture. "But I do think the problem has been exacerbated by a low drinking age."

Mike MacAvoy, chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council, said: "It is time for parents and the community to put their hands up and take some responsibility for their young people. Young people can't legally buy alcohol; they have to rely on adults to supply them."

He does not believe raising the drinking age to 20 again will solve this problem.