Home secretary tells parents to stop children drinking

Home secretary David Blunkett urged parents to take
responsibility for their children’s drinking habits at a conference
on youth crime, writes Clare Jerrom.

Parents who give their children alcohol are “committing child
abuse as much as if they were breaking their child’s arm”, he told
the Youth Justice Board/Metropolitan police conference in
London.

He said there should also be harsh penalties for people selling
alcohol to youngsters outlined in future legislation.

There should be “clear and understandable” messages from the
government, schools, and parents about alcohol, he added.

In his keynote speech on preventing youth crime Blunkett said
more secure places were needed to ease the problem of
overcrowding

He wants to expand existing detention centres and bring some old
facilities back into use. This would be linked with remand
fostering, intensive supervision and electronic tagging for young
offenders.

Lord Warner, chairperson of the Youth Justice Board, confirmed
there would be two new secure training centres opened in June and
October, and more provisions next year as part of programme to
provide more secure accommodation for 12 to 16-year-olds.