AN alcohol abuse advisor who works with children in York schools has slammed the idea of prosecuting parents.

Responding to Alcohol Concern's report on underage drinking, alcohol abuse expert Sue Stone, of Fresh Knowledge, said that the best way to tackle underage drinking was to focus on education, not prosecution.

"Prosecuting parents that supply their children with alcohol isn't necessarily the answer," said Ms Stone.

"Firstly, it will be incredibly difficult to enforce - the authorities simply cannot know everything that happens in the home."

"Secondly, in my work with school pupils in Yorkshire, it is quite apparent that the problem is not parents plying their children with alcohol. The real issue is that many children (and some parents) simply don't understand the damage that alcohol can do, particularly to young people."

"Young people need to be made aware of how alcohol affects the body and its potentially ruinous effect on their future. Whenever I address school pupils on this subject, they are amazed to learn of the dangers involved."

Ms Stone also says that making measures to combat alcohol abuse part of the National Curriculum will not go far enough because schools do not have the means to implement such training effectively.

"Alcohol-abuse is a specialist subject that requires specialist knowledge. Most of the schools that Fresh Knowledge works with simply don't have the resources or the expertise to undertake this kind of work," she said.

In a report, Alcohol Concern said drastic measures were needed because current policy had failed to stop problem drinking among children.

Currently it is legal to provide alcohol to children as young as five in the home.

The age limit must be raised alongside other measures, including a 16 per cent increase in alcohol taxes, Alcohol Concern said.

The charity's report highlighted figures - obtained from the NHS Information centre by BBC Panorama last November - that showed the amount of alcohol consumed by 11 to 13-year-olds had sharply increased in recent years.

Fresh Knowledge is a Yorkshire-based alcohol management and counselling service working with schools in the area to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

In March, The Press reported how Ms Stone talked to sixth formers at Joseph Rowntree School, in York, where staff take a practical approach to help youngsters cope with the world outside school.

Part of this pastoral care for sixth formers includes cookery lessons for teenagers living away from home for the first time and also a talk on the dangers of alcohol abuse.

Head of sixth form Sarah Billinge said: "Drinking is part of a student's life at university and this is about them getting the knowledge to go out there and stay safe."