Programme 2 - Key Issues

Maria started drinking at the age of 13. There have been several studies undertaken in recent years that show that under-age drinking is on the increase. The British Medical Association (BMA) published a report in 2002 entitled Alcohol and Young People. The report revealed that not only are younger children consuming alcohol but that the amount they consume has increased and they are drinking on a more regular basis.

Drinking among young teenagers is linked to antisocial behaviour. Doctors fear that alcohol abuse during the formative years sets a pattern for later life. Binge drinking (which we see Maria and her friends indulging in) is far more harmful to health than drinking a moderate amount occasionally.

In Scotland, it is an offence for anyone under 18 to buy alcohol for a person under 18 years old. That legislation is yet to be introduced in England and Wales and we see Maria regularly asking passers-by to buy her cigarettes and alcohol.

The report called for:

• Tougher regulation of advertising for alcoholic drinks by the Independent Television Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority
• More spot-checks on retailers using 'test purchases' by under-18s
• Extension of current voluntary proof-of-age ID schemes
• More alcohol education to be introduced from primary school level.

The importance of family and friends Maria's parents are divorced and in the programme her mother says she would have liked to be part of a two-parent family but that wasn't possible. Maria seems to miss having a father figure in her life. She also misses her friends from her previous home in Suffolk. The move to Cambridge unsettled Maria and this was made worse by the death of her grandfather to whom she was very close.

Maria shows us her bedroom wall, which is covered in messages from her friends past and present. She calls her gang (The Shazas) the 'good' people, by which she probably means 'cool'.

The group culture is very important to Maria. Her gang members have the same hairstyles and dress in a similar way. Maria takes us through different groups among her peers: the 'grebs' who dress like tramps, the 'geeks' who don't wear nice clothes, wear glasses and study all day. Maria claims she doesn't see the point in that, because you should make the most of your childhood.

Aggressive behaviour Maria is accused of bullying and being aggressive towards others especially when drunk. Her teachers often send home 'bad news slips' to inform her mother of her behaviour in class. One teacher wrote that Maria did her own thing in class, she did no work at all during the lesson and when the teacher asked her not to use an aerosol spray she screamed abuse at her.

More than one third of teenagers have been in a fight when drunk. Maria and her friends explain how their aggression increases when they are drunk: they don't care what they say, they say things they wish they hadn't, they become loud and talk nonsense, get into a bad moods, become angry, stressed and start shouting at people. Maria knows what it's like to be bullied herself and she admits that it's wrong, saying "What goes around comes around". She sees the fear in the victim's face and feels bad when she's been horrible to people. She sometimes asks herself what she's doing, but it doesn't seem to stop her perpetuating the bullying.