UK teenagers might have a reputation for binge drinking, but in reality the number of young people consuming alcohol has declined sharply. “There is nothing that says you can’t go out and have fun without a drink,” says Liam Brooks, 18. Since November he’s been old enough to buy alcohol legally, but he’s never touched a drop.”It’s the mindset the media has that every 18-year-old goes out and gets drunk. If I’m hanging out with friends and they have been out of their minds drunk, I’m the one keeping an eye on them,” Liam says.

While Liam’s abstinence may be atypical, all the figures suggest that young people in the UK are becoming more like him. The figures speak for themselves: among older teenagers and young adults, in 2010, only 48% of 16-to-26-year-olds said they’d had an alcoholic drink that week compared to 71% in 1998. Drinking amongst children has also fallen: just 12% of 11-to-15-year olds said they had drunk alcohol in the previous week in 2011 – down from 26% a decade earlier, according to NHS statistics.

It’s a trend that defies many people’s expectations of young people, and a whole variety of theories are offered by experts to explain it. Working as a Street Pastors this editor has observed that many young people are making a conscious decision not to drink on their night’s out. In stark contrast, the middle-aged are spending more on alcohol than ever before!

Source: BBC News; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: Job 32:8-10

PRAISE: God for this new attitude of many young people. Pray that many may begin to seek the true meaning to their lives that can be found in Jesus.