UK: Child solvent abuse 'on increase'

The problem of children sniffing glue, gas and aerosols is growing, with some as young as 10 regularly dicing with death, a charity study says. The report, by the National Children's Bureau (NCB) and Childline, says deaths from using such substances are rising.
But it warns that the problem remains hidden because of prejudice and a fall in public awareness since the 1980s.
The report is based on more than 350 calls about volatile substance use to Childline's children's helpline.

Trauma
It says children who inhale solvents and other substances are not always doing so just to get high.
Instead, they may be using them as an “escape” from trauma or emotional or mental health problems.
And — with easy access to substances such as glue, paint, nail varnish and correcting fluid — it warns that abuse can start from an early age.
Experiences described to Childline counsellors included a girl who sniffed nail varnish to block out the pain of being beaten by her parents and a boy who “buzzed” deodorant in “a desperate attempt to fit in”.
The charities say solvent use among 15 and 16-year-olds in the UK is at 15% — the highest in the EU.
The report finds children already seen as marginalised by society, such as those in care or in young offenders' institutions, are particularly likely to abuse solvents.
It says many feel scared and ashamed of their substance abuse, so tend to do it alone.
This results in a high chance of death, as if something goes wrong, there is no-one around to help, the report warns.

Painful reading
Author Simon Blake, assistant director of children's development at the NCB, said children who abused solvents were “playing Russian roulette with their lives”.
He said: “In the 1980s everyone knew about the problem of glue sniffing but over the last 20 years it has slowly slipped from public view and has been forgotten. Yet (volatile substance abuse) continues to cause death and harm to many.”
He told BBC News: “Shop owners who supply these to under-18s sometimes unwittingly but perhaps irresponsibly need to take more control.
“Parents need to be talking to children about solvents, about their health, and teachers' and others' need to be doing more in schools and in youth clubs.”

Childline chief executive Carole Easton said the accounts of children who called the helpline were “difficult and painful to read”.
She added: “It is crucial that we face up to the fact that children are abusing volatile substances to escape the pain their lives are causing them.”
Childline and the NCB are calling for new laws to minimise the amount of dangerous solvents in products and more work to restrict access to volatile substances.
They also want more support for vulnerable youngsters and education for children and parents about substance abuse.

22 June 2005

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4119230.stm

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