Teenagers gather together to speak out about issues that affect them

It is "becoming expected for teenagers to vomit on a night out", students from Alexandra College in Dublin said yesterday.

In a presentation entitled Teenage Drinking and its Consequences, the students told a Young Social Innovators (YSI) forum that binge drinking among teenagers was a problem and that it "impairs brain development in teenagers, causes damage to the liver, impairs life expectancy and damages relationships with friends and family".

Drinking and drug taking by young people was a recurrent topic explored in the short presentations by transition year students at yesterday's Speak Out forum.

A number of schools from a variety of social backgrounds in Leinster were at the final regional YSI forum to take place before a national showcase at the RDS on May 9th and 10th. Other forums have been held in Sligo, Waterford, Galway, Dundalk and Cork.

According to Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, who founded the YSI organisation five years ago, regular themes at this year's forums have been mental health among young people, services for young immigrants, domestic violence, homelessness, the environment, eating disorders, drink driving, and the state of the health service.

Sr Kennedy said she and others modelled the YSI on the Young Scientist competition, in an effort to encourage teenagers to think about the society around them in a way that is not covered in the curriculum.

"It is amazing how passionate the kids are about the issues," she said. "They put a lot of work into researching and presenting the projects and this gives them a forum to present them, a structure.

"I do think it makes a difference, to focus their minds on issues around them and outside of themselves, and that it will make a difference to the kind of adults they become. The awareness they build up stays with them."

St Mary's College, Arklow presented a play on domestic violence at yesterday's forum. The students portrayed the denial used by perpetrators and victims in an effort to cope with the situation.

But, the students said, the denial did not lessen the "damage done to children living in a domestic violence situation".

"Marriage is seen as success, separation as failure. We must be open minded and open our eyes," they said.

Loretto College, Crumlin looked at the lack of language-support resources for schools with high numbers of non-Irish national pupils.

They quoted politicians' responses to appeals for more resources: "You must understand"; "To put it in context"; "We've invested already"; "This crept up on us".

"Lack of investment is costing us dear," the pupils said.