Parents ‘allow kids get drunk on holiday’

Children as young as six are being allowed by their parents to drink alcohol abroad on holiday, according to a survey.

As many as 44% of the children under 18 given permission to partake in alcohol became drunk, the poll by travel agent sunshine.co.uk found.

Overall, 26% of parents surveyed said they had let children under 18 drink alcohol on foreign trips. Of these parents, 55% had given the go-ahead for 15 to 17-year-olds.

A total of 23% had allowed 12 to 14-year-olds to drink alcohol, while 18% had let nine to 11-year-olds do so and 3% had given permission to six to eight-year-olds.

A total of 1,782 British parents who had been away with their child, aged under 18, on a foreign trip in the last 12 months, were involved in the survey.

The parents’ top reason was that they thought it was legal abroad. Others reckoned it was easier to get away with it abroad, while some wanted their children to have fun.

Sunshine.co.uk’s Chris Clarkson urged parents to check the legal drinking age abroad.

“To see that some parents were letting their youngsters drink alcohol abroad on holiday from the age of six was, quite frankly, appalling,” he said.