Not everyone out there has led a life of sobriety. 
There’s many a person who will tell you they tried alcohol long before they were legally old enough. 
Hard-drinking can go hand in hand in many seafaring port towns which are home to heavy industries and working class areas.
Yet attitudes to alcohol, and awareness of the harm it can cause, have changed in recent years. 
Younger people are reported to be far more cautious and responsible about their intake than any other generation, including their own parents.
So it still comes as a surprise that an average of one person a week under 18 in this area is being taken to hospital for too much booze. 
This piles pressure on over-stretched A&E departments and also raises an unanswered question.
Why are children turning to binge drinking despite all the messages about alcohol? 
Is it curiosity, anxiety, stress or unhappiness. The reasons people turn to alcohol need to be considered before any headway can be made with the problem. 
Children aged eight in Barrow may well be being taught about alcohol abuse, but whether they retain this information and put it into practice, seems very unlikely based on these statistics.