The habit of heavy drinking is seeing more teens seeking therapy after nights on the town go wrong.
A specialist sexual assault counsellor says more teens are coming to her to talk about being sexual assaulted after a night of boozing.
The
Bay of Plenty Times Weekend
has taken an in-depth look at the teen drinking issue after a recent 16th birthday bash at the Tauranga Racecourse that saw 12 teens arrested and the cancellation of a party that 1500 young people had bought tickets to attend tonight.
The party, that was to be held at the Mount Action Centre, would have seen 16-year-olds partying alongside those old enough to buy alcohol at the event.
Counsellor Denise McEnteer's observations come as the Government considers splitting the alcohol purchase age so that only those who have had their 20th birthday could buy alcohol from supermarkets and liquor stores.
Those under 18 could still go to the pub.
Ms McEnteer said while most young people were keeping themselves safe, some were not.
She is counselling an average of 18 teenagers a week aged 13 to 17.
That's three more teens a week than she saw in 2008.
The roles of young men and women were reversing, with women going out on a Saturday night with the goal of getting drink and getting intimate with someone, she said.
The girls believed if they had sex, the young man would become their boyfriend, and many "chased" males they were interested in.
Girls were meeting up with people they had friended through Facebook, or strangers who had sent a message to a random number hoping for a reply.
Stuart Caldwell, Get Smart Tauranga Drug and Alcohol Services manager, said teen drinking was out of control.
His organisation had needed to increase the number of counsellors it sent into schools over the last year.
He recalled a worrying night out in Get Smart's Street Help van when a young girl took 10 minutes to remember her name and another 10 to give her helpers her address.
"During this time three unrelated males came past and offered to take her home," Mr Caldwell said.
Mr Caldwell said parents were often responsible for buying the alcohol that was getting teens drunk.
"The other suspicion I have is that with a large solo parent society, there is a type of guilt on some parents that they are not providing everything they should to their teens.
"In their attempt to compensate they seem to think it is more important to be their friend than their guardian," he said.
Glenn and Virginia Meikle, the owners of superclub Illuminati, Brewers Bar and Super Liquor in Mount Maunganui, said fake IDs made it hard to know if teens were old enough to buy alcohol.
The Meikles welcome parents concerned about their children aged under 18 gaining entry to their premises, to call them.
They are keen to start a file of photos of underage drinkers so they can catch them out at the door.