THE point about children and alcohol seems to be lost in the latest chorus of wrath surrounding this thorny subject.

The charity Alcohol Concern is demanding that parents who give alcohol to children under the age of 15, even with a meal at home, should face prosecution.

The organisation has just published research revealing that girls aged 11 to 13 are drinking 83 per cent more alcohol than six years ago, and makes a strong link between drunkenness and teenage pregnancy.

Adults who sell or give strong alcohol to minors certainly need prosecuting, and I'm sure this charity wants positive action to improve a worrying situation.

Although the number of children who drink alcohol has dropped slightly, the amount they consume has soared. Frontline agencies like the police and the Accident and Emergency Department at the Royal Bolton Hospital could certainly confirm the problems they face daily caused by this toxic mix of children and booze.

Drunken misbehaviour, noise nuisance, vandalism and violence result in communities across towns like Bolton, alongside unconscious youngsters and potential future health hazards linked to excess drink.

Personally, I can't see that giving a 12-year-old an occasional glass of wine with a meal at home, though, is anywhere near the root cause of the problem. Parental selfishness is much closer to the mark.

Youngsters can't purchase alcohol without money, and too many parents buy domestic peace and quiet with a tenner and the implied instruction to go away and give the adults space to enjoy their own lives. They then turn a blind eye on what it buys.

The fact that the youngsters may, perhaps like their own parents, start to enjoy the odd tipple or five and, unlike them, are not be able to handle it, apparently isn't a factor.

Children are cute when they're little, but they do have a habit of growing into demanding, challenging teens.

But, if we don't spend time with them and enforce home rules about acceptable behaviour, then of course they will run riot. And if we give them large amounts of pocket money, they will spend it with the usual recklessness of youth - and buy oblivion.