More and more children are tempting their chances these days and starting to drink earlier than ever. Thousands of children aged 14 and under require hospitalization as a result of drinking too much alcohol. Over the past ten years 23,000 children have needed tratment for over cosumption which works out to approx 2,500 a year.

The release of these figures coincide with a massive Government Crackdown on under age drinking. Bars and Restaurants are being ordered to confirm the age of anyone who appears to be younger than 21 before serving them. Vendors of alcohol will have one warning before they are charged with serving underage buyers. And parents who let their children drink in public will be charged with fines up to £1000. But is enough being done, will making it less accesible help curb the problem and save lives?

Dan Butcher, founder of The Recovery Network (a social networking internet platform that provides real time education, a support network and social assistance to anyone affected by addiction) believes

“Education around the dangers of excessive drinking is key to avoiding alcohol related dependency. The government needs to do a lot more than just crack down on alcohol sales among teenagers, and far greater efforts need to be placed on education. Schools need to initiate a program where they invite recovering alcoholics/addicts in to speak to their students and educate them on the first hand on the dangers of drink and drugs. The recovery network is seeing a growing number of youngsters come to their website who suffer from alcohol dependency as well as other addictions and there are a growing number of parents joining our site in search of support for their alcoholic/addict children.”

About the Recovery Network:

The Recovery Network is an online social networking and educational service that is available 24-7 to support those affected by addiction whether directly or indirectly. The website offers a supportive environment for addicts, recovering addicts and the friends and families of both around various addictions such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex & love and co dependency. For more information please visit www.trntv.co.uk. Charity Addiction Recovery Foundation are also available to provide support and more information can be found at www.addictiontoday.org.

Daniel Butcher, Recovering Addict and Founder of The Recovery Network will be available for interview to discuss child drinking.