Today's teenagers - are they having a ball or are they out of control? Recent reports all point to the fact that young people are smoking and drinking at increasingly earlier ages. There's evidence, too, that more youngsters are becoming sexually active at a younger age.

On top of that, there's drugs and the fact that most teenagers will happily tell you that, yes, they could easily get their hands on soft drugs if they wanted to - hard ones might be a tad more difficult. Should we be concerned or are they simply having the sort of fun that was denied their parents?

"It's a gross exaggeration to say that teenagers are out control or that they are not amenable to advice," says Sean O Beachain, principal of Coolmine Community School in Dublin. "The vast majority of young people are very amenable to the values that their parents exercise."

However, he says, there are small numbers of young people who do fit the out-of-control category and need help. A small number, too, seem to be permitted by their parents to come and go as they please.

Going to school with a hangover was unheard of a few short years ago. Nowadays, while it may not be the norm, it's a regular occurrence for some young people. A recent survey, conducted by NUI Galway's department of health promotion, finds that just under a third (29 per cent) of children aged between nine and 17 years report having an alcoholic drink within the previous month.

Over half of nine-to-11 years olds have consumed alcohol. Almost one in three also reports being drunk. Eight per cent of the boys and three per cent of the girls say that they have been "really drunk" more than 10 times and, in the 15-to-17 age group, this figure rises to 13 per cent.

"Some people drink every day, others when they get the chance," says a 16-year-old Dublin boy. "About 80 per cent of people my age drink without their parents knowing. They go to people's homes if the parents are out, otherwise they go the local park - we call it knacker-drinking. A lot of people also go to the pub if they look old enough."

One 15-year-old girl goes regularly to the pub with friends who are only 14. She goes with her mother's blessing. "If I say `no', she'll go anyway," this parent says. "I tell her that I would prefer it if she didn't drink alcohol."

A report published last December by the Mid-Western Health Board's department of public health shows that 13- to 17-year-olds first take alcohol because everyone is doing it. They continue to drink, they say, because they like the taste.

This report surveyed 4,000 students aged between 13 and 17 from Limerick city and counties Clare and Limerick. It finds that just over one quarter of 13-year-olds and almost three-quarters of 17-year-olds have been drunk. Some 44 per cent were with friends when they got drunk for the first time.

One-tenth of students first got drunk at a disco or a party, nine per cent in pubs or clubs, nearly seven per cent in fields and the rest at friends' houses or at home.

The fact that teenagers are drinking more frequently and to a greater extent is of concern, says Mary Van Leishout, head of health promotion at the Eastern Health Board. "There is a lack of appreciation of the damage alcohol causes and a sense that, if you are not addicted, you're all right," she says. But regular excessive drinking can lead to stomach cancers or liver diseases in later life.

The mental health aspect of teen drinking is of even greater concern, Van Leishout says. Alcohol is a drug and it's use by teenagers is "associated with delayed maturation - if teenagers are numbing themselves through the use of drugs they can't develop appropriately. It's a concern that they should respond to stress by getting drunk.

"It's important to ensure that young people don't drink during their teens because this is when their habits and skills are being developed."

Research in the workplace shows that binge drinking affects decision-making skills for up to 16 hours afterwards, she says. In the United States, drinking three and a half pints in one sitting is regarded as binge drinking. Yet many Irish youngsters report drinking five pints or more at a sitting.

"The younger body is less able to metabolise alcohol than the older body, " Van Leishout notes.