ONE IN TEN thirteen-year-olds reported having consumed alcohol – 12% of which said that they drank on at least a monthly basis, according to new research.

The research, which comes a Growing Up in Ireland report, is based off of interviews conducted with parents and their children that were born in 2008. The interviews took place in 2021/22.

Over 6,000 children took part in the study.

The cohort surveyed, who were born in the year 2008, marked a 6% decrease in the number of young people who reported having an alcoholic drink, compared to the previous cohort, born in 1998, recorded at the same age.

Young people who had parents who reported binge-drinking on at least a monthly basis were more likely to have tried alcohol, and young people in one-parent households were over twice as likely to have tried alcohol, with 20% in one-parent households having drank, and 9% of those living with two parents.

The cohort of 2008 also saw a reversal of the previous reported trend of boys having been more likely to have had an alcoholic drink at the age of thirteen, as girls were reported to have a higher likelihood.

Vaping

The research also found that almost one in ten thirteen-year-olds have tried vaping.

The likelihood of 13-year-olds having tried a cigarette was three times higher if they had a parent who had smoked, the report said, at 6% versus 2%.

The report found that nearly 10% of 13-year-olds had tried vaping, which was more common than experimenting with smoking, which was reported to be 3%. Young people who had a parent who vaped or smoked were more likely to have tried vaping, at 15%.

Girls were more likely to have vaped than boys, with 10% of girls and 7% of boys reporting that they had vaped at some point in time. 

Over half of 13-year-olds surveyed thought that vaping was either equally or more harmful than smoking, while 24% thought it was less harmful. 

Bullying 

Just over one-third (34%) of 13-year-olds surveyed reported having been excluded by their friends or classmates, while 33% had been subjected to name-calling or hurtful comments. 

A total of 30% of young people surveyed reported having been pushed, shoved or slapped. 

The figures come as a report published yesterday by the Department of Education Inspectorate found that approximately one-third of post-primary students feel that they don’t belong in school, or feel that they can’t express themselves.

Minister for State at the Department of Health, Colm Burke, said that the new research from the Growing Up in Ireland study provides useful information that will help with targeting health policies at “those who particularly need support”.

“It also provides us with the information we need to prevent risks and to support those who are in danger from substance abuse,” he said.