How can a teenager stay safe on their 6th year holiday?

As young people across Ireland continue with their exams, their minds are increasingly turning towards their summer holidays. 

Often, the Leaving Cert holiday is the first time they head abroad with friends, instead of their parents. 

Dr Chris Luke, a retired consultant in emergency medicine, said he would often encounter them after their return, many looking “incredibly pale” because they “haven’t seen any sun in the previous two weeks”. 

On Moncrieff, he warned families that  what goes wrong is usually “more of the same”. 

“If they have a history of asthma or allergy or irritable bowel or migraines, the most likely thing to go wrong is a flare up of that background problem with the extreme heat or exhaustion or intoxication that you’ll encounter on a week or two in the Mediterranean," he explained. 

More seriously, Dr Luke said there are sometimes fatalities. 

“Sadly, we have had tragedies,” he said. 

“The first tragedy that comes to mind is not a Leaving Cert student but the much beloved Dr Michael Mosley… he basically collapsed behind a wall and wasn’t found for a day or two.” 

Tourists in Spain. Picture by: Marcos del Mazo / Alamy Stock Photo

When it comes to accommodation, Dr Luke warned that balconies can be extremely dangerous. 

“Young men typically climb up balconies on these high rises on Magluf and Ibiza and, of course, fall off or jump into a partially filled swimming pool,” he warned. 

“The other thing that happens is that people who are a bit tipsy literally topple over the edge of a balcony when they’re taking a selfie.” 

He added that drug dealers will also target places where there are young people with “cash to spare”. 

“Obviously, the most significant drug will be drink and you’d say to your young man or woman, ‘Try and stick to the beer because the hassle and difficulty arises usually when you’ve got a mixture of shots,’” he said. 

“Then, you start getting into what we call ‘the RDS’ - the Relentless Drinking Syndrome.

“Basically, after a few scoops people are most likely to be tempted to experiment or to buy whatever’s being sold around the clubs and pubs in these resorts.

“You’re talking about cannabis, more importantly you’re talking about cocaine and ecstasy.”

Main image: People on holiday. Picture by: Alamy.com.