A drinking game played through social media which has caught on in NZ has been labelled "incredibly foolish" and "very, very harmful" by an alcohol-harm advocacy group.

Three people have been charged with giving alcohol to a 9-year-old who was filmed, apparently drunk, at a Hamilton skatepark.

The parents or guardians of young people before the courts could have bail conditions imposed on them as well as their children, under a private members' bill.

A video of a drunk boy stumbling and slurring at a Hamilton skate park has been reposted to YouTube despite an earlier attempt by police to have Google remove it.

Words can hardly express the harm inflicted on a 9-year-old boy in Hamilton this week by someone who gave him enough alcohol to get very drunk.

Oh the shame of reading the Daily Mail online and seeing two stories from New Zealand featuring prominently.

A violent daylight attack in a small Otago town has resulted in three arrests and an appeal for information about two travellers who police hold concerns for.

Three people have been charged with giving alcohol to a 9-year-old who was filmed, apparently drunk, at a Hamilton skatepark.

A video of an apparently drunk Hamilton boy has been removed from YouTube - but not before more than half a million people watched the uncensored footage.

A Tauranga campsite which has banned adults and families in favour of those who are "young, dumb and full of beer" has been criticised by police and an alcohol abuse expert.

Nearly three-quarters of New Zealanders feel that the Roast Busters case showed high school students needed to be taught about respectful attitudes to sex.

I imagine parents need to dial down the effusive praise and cast a realistic eye over these artistic endeavours.

Most societies are hard on their youth, writes Peter Lyons.

Sachets of alcohol designed to be slipped discreetly into purses and pockets are being sold in liquor stores, alarming police and alcohol-watch groups.

Here are the four youngsters Tennis New Zealand are hoping to propel into the world's top 150.

A funny portrayal of a "cool dad" in a television ad about under-18s drinking has won praise for challenging parents' thinking on how they should behave at young people's parties.

Cognitive development research is, like its subjects, still in its infancy, but it seems that our tiny tots are a lot smarter than science once gave them credit for. Angela Saini reports on the latest evidence — and argument — from the baby labs.

A new study has shown that a major contributor to alcohol-related harm among underage drinkers is their older mates supplying them with large amounts of booze.

I am constantly impressed, and sometimes amazed, by what our young people are doing and achieving, writes Prime Minister John Key. They, of course, are the leaders of the future.

The rate of babies dying prematurely or from sudden unexpected death in infancy has dropped sharply - but it's still too many, say child health experts.

Ten-year-old Charlotte Cornwall was one of more than 1300 local kids to swim, bike and run their way through the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids Try-athlon in Manurewa yesterday morning.

A young girl has tried to take her own life at school in a town already stunned by two other girls' sudden deaths.

Hey kids, get ready to shout 'Look behind you!' when the Christmas panto season starts, says Dionne Christian.

Richard Aston is a former IT corporate high-flyer who for the past decade has run the Big Buddy programme, matching men with boys who need a male role model. He spent seven years on the Rainbow Valley commune near Nelson.

Three teenagers will appear in court in Lower Hutt today charged with kidnapping after a car-jacking which lasted about five hours on Saturday night.

Three teenagers were allegedly held up at knife-point, assaulted and forced to drive around Wellington by a younger group of teens during a five-hour kidnapping ordeal overnight.

High school years are when teens face important decisions that will shape their future. But whom do they go to when they need advice?