Hung-over pupils arrive unfit for class

MORE and more pupils are arriving in class unfit for school due to drinking and drug-taking, a teachers’ union president warned yesterday.

Second level students have more money than ever before and this has implications for their capacity to take part in drugs and alcohol-fuelled activities, said the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) president, Pat Cahill.

Mr Cahill was commenting after a United Nations’ report showed Irish youth topping the European Union league for use of amphetamines and ecstasy. Levels of abuse of amphetamines are more than five times higher here than in most other European countries and are only exceeded by Thailand, Australia and the Philippines.