England is worst in the world for child alcohol consumption. The Church must wake up
By 
Emma Heath2024-05-08T10:12:00
Children in England are more likely to have drunk alcohol than those in any other country. Emma Heath says the news should be a wake up call to churches who are contributing to an unhealthy culture around alcohol
England has the worst rate of child alcohol consumption in the world.
That’s according to a new report by the World Health Organisation, which shows more than half of children had drunk alcohol by age 13.
I believe we are living in a culture of denial around the serious impact that alcohol is having. Having lived a life of alcohol abuse myself, I am now running a national Christian charity upskilling teams to work in the area of addiction. But it takes a wake up call to really see what is going on around us, and I had just that jolt when I was invited to speak at a local school in Dorset.
Related articles
-
OpinionWhen funding was pulled from youth work, the Church stepped up. Did the government notice?
After years of cuts, Keir Starmer’s pledge to invest millions in young people will be welcomed by many. But Andy du Feu notes the Church has been plugging the funding gap for years — and it’s about time Westminster acknowledged that
-
Real Life‘I was adopted and abused. Now I’m teaching young people to repair bicycles so they can know God’s love’
Neil Obbard was an Army sniper filled with anger over his childhood abuse. Seeing the young people on his estate in Leeds suffering with similar traumas, he started a bicycle repair programme with the hope of reaching them with the good news
-
OpinionNew schools sex ed guidance is good news for Christians
The new draft government guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RHSE) in schools has now been published. Julie Maxwell explains how it came about and what it contains - as well as how Christians can continue to hold schools to account
More from Opinion
-
OpinionIs Islamic theology a key factor behind grooming gangs? My report lists 8 factors
A new report by Anglican priest and scholar Dr Mark Durie argues that grooming-gang activity across the UK isn’t connected to ethnicity but to Islamic theology.
-
OpinionCelebrity vicars do a great job. But if we think it’s about us, we’ve lost the plot
Following The Spectator’s critique of “funky vicars”, Rev Michael Coren pushes back, defending his fellow clergy in the public eye and questioning a culture that he says is quicker to sneer than to support
-
OpinionTax is a privilege, not an imposition. If only the billionaires fleeing the country could see that
The fear of wealth taxes is driving many UK billionaires offshore to places with friendlier tax policies. George Pitcher is questioning their refusal to undertake a shared duty to give back, and the price they’re paying for it that isn’t financial
- Issues
- Topics A-Z
- Writers A-Z
- © 2025 Premier Christianity
Site powered by Webvision Cloud