Primary school kids should get alcohol awareness help, charity says 

Drinkaware chief executive Sheena Horgan said there was growing evidence that younger people were using alcohol as a coping strategy. Picture: iStock

Children as young as those in sixth class should be introduced to information about the impact of alcohol and given the chance to develop the ability to say no to peer pressure, according to the chief executive of Drinkaware.

On Tuesday, the charity publishes a report into its junior cycle programme aimed at reducing alcohol use among younger teenagers, carried out by Professor Sinéad McGilloway and John A Weafer of the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research in Maynooth University's Department of Psychology and Social Sciences Institute.