The  Social Trends report, published recently by the British Office of National Statistics, paints a gloomy picture of the lives of British children. According to the report, the kids are smoking, drinking and taking drugs more than ever before.

In general, youngsters drink twice as much as they did 10 years ago. Boys as young as 11-13 consume 8.4 units of alcohol (equivalent of 4 pints of beer) every week. In the early 1990s, the boys of that age group consumed around 3 units of alcohol. The drinking habits of girls aged 11-15 have jumped from 4.7 units to 9.1 units per week in 10 years. More than 60% of the 15-year-olds answering the survey said they had been offered illegal drugs. The amount of children  that had tried illicit drugs increased to 14% from 11% in 1998. Out of these, most had smoked marijuana. Almost 25% of the 15-year-olds smoke tobacco regularly.