Nearly 70 per cent of children aged 11 to 14 and nearly 80 per cent aged 14 to 16 said magazines were their main source of information about drugs, alcohol and solvent abuse.Leading article page 12. At least three-quarters of boys and girls 11 and over had read about Aids. The figures rose to more than nine out of 10 girls and more than six out of 10 boys among 14- to 16-year-olds. Age, sex, colour or country of origin were important to only a “very small number” of under-16s.The study uncovered a considerable gap between girls and boys in terms of their use of literature for sex education.More than eight out of 10 girls, but only four out of 10 boys, aged 11 to 14 had read about how to prevent pregnancy. Efforts by children’s authors to reflect the full range of ethnic and gender groups are a waste of time in the eyes of many of their young readers, according to a study.
Researchers at Surrey University’s Roehampton Institute canvassed 9,000 children on their reading habits and found that the youngsters did not feel it was particularly important to see images of themselves in literature.

Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton remain the most popular authors among British children, who apparently do not care whether characters in the books they read are much like themselves. “Whereas traffickers in the past have been interested solely in the business side of their trade, now they are also eager for political power,” he said.. Weak economies, underpaid and demoralised officials and low counter-narcotics spending were laying eastern Caribbean states wide open to the traffickers.”At street value, 1kg of cocaine is often worth more than the average salary of a judge in the Caribbean and a customs officer could house, feed and educate his family for three years for just not searching one suitcase,” the report said.Dr Calvani fears that the drug barons may soon infiltrate the political arena in this part of the Caribbean. A recent Internet advertisement promoted Antiguan money-laundering services by promising: “We handle cash derived from ANY activity.” And a string of recent murders and disappearances in St Kitts was also linked with trafficking.A European Union report on the current crisis highlighted the islands’ vulnerability and warned that it posed a threat to the region’s democracy.

Twelve tonnes of cocaine found in a cargo ship in Spain last month were traced back to the island and in London in December 1994, pounds 1m worth of cocaine was seized on a British Airways flight from the island.Other islands in the Leeward and Windward chain are also at risk. As the Caribbean’s most easterly outpost with arguably the best air and sea-freight facilities in the region and close trade links with Britain, it serves their purpose well.Despite the island having some of the toughest drug penalties in the region, 827 drug cases were recorded up to the end of October 1996, against 745 cases for the entire year 1995. With limited resources, however, and some countries only having one or two patrol boats to try to intercept the powerful speedboats of the smugglers, they seem outgunned.The UN programme is well placed in Barbados, which is a prime target for the traffickers. As their routes have been closed down the narco-traffickers have been pushed further and further east so these islands are now beginning to see a lot more drug activity,” he said.He added that 1997 will be a crucial year in the fight against trafficking which would only be won if all the eastern Caribbean nations worked together to stifle the threat.

And despite a graphic film now showing on flights from the United Kingdom warning of the penalties of drug smuggling, some ignore the risks and carry consignments of cocaine back to the UK.The director of the UN programme in Barbados, Dr Sandro Calvani, said the narcotics trade is like a balloon.”You squeeze it here and it pops out over there. About 60 per cent came via Britain, arriving on cargo ships and passenger flights.As much as one-fifth of the Europe-bound total is estimated to have travelled with couriers – and sometimes holidaymakers – according to one counter- narcotics expert in Barbados, and it is believed there could be as many as three cocaine runs a week to Britain.Many more British holidaymakers are taking advantage of lower holiday prices in the Caribbean. But any subject involving sheer description or learning by rote is out of reach, ruling out maths, technology or languages.Andrew’s parents face the reality of a disorder which saw their son score highest among more than 18,000 candidates, yet which means they must continue to care for him.His father, Graham, speaks of Andrew’s “amazing ability to focus … With the help of 15 hours a week home tuition, he gained five GCSEs and a sixth-form place at the tertiary college near his Derby home, setting him on the path to the awards from the Associated Examining Board.Now in the first year of a degree in politics at Nottingham University, Andrew said: “Asperger’s has given me abilities as well as disabilities.”Among his strengths are tremendous powers of critical analysis. Yet the condition also revealed itself in a startling academic ability. The boy who could not mix with his classmates left specialists divided – some thought he was gifted while others saw bad behaviour.Six years later, Andrew was diagnosed as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, a little-understood form of autism causing obsessional behaviour and difficulties with relationships. Nineteen-year-old Andrew Robinson celebrated Christmas with three medals from the country’s largest A-level exam board – one for gaining the highest mark nationally in general studies and the others for coming within the top five candidates in two other subjects.
The achievements mark a milestone in an educational career which saw him removed from junior school at seven.

A student born with a rare form of autism which rules out everyday tasks such as making a cup of tea, has beaten thousands of other teenagers to score among the country’s top A-level results. Tightened security in the established cocaine conduit areas have forced the drug cartels to change tack and now it is feared they will exploit the eastern Caribbean’s comparative unfamiliarity with drug smuggling by flooding the new route with drugs for Britain, the rest of Europe and the United States.
Evidence from the United Nations Drug Control Programme, based in Barbados and funded chiefly by the British government, shows that 180 tonnes of cocaine were smuggled into Europe from South America via the eastern Caribbean this year – roughly 50kg a day. The South American drug cartels are spreading their smuggling operations from Central America and the western Caribbean to the 29 countries of the eastern Caribbean stretching from Surinam to the British Virgin Islands. But that tunnel vision is part of the problem – he can tell you all about Karl Marx but he can’t make a cup of tea.”. It will be one of the priorities for the new governor of the Turks and Caicos, John Kelly, an expert on the Caribbean, who took over recently from Martin Bourke..