By LAURA CLARK

Last updated at 14:28 26 July 2007

British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, a report has revealed.

They are more likely to binge-drink, take drugs, have sex at a young age and start fights.

The report, from a think-tank closely linked to Labour, says the collapse of family life is at least partly to blame.

It means youngsters follow the example set by their friends rather than guidance from their parents.

The damning verdict from the Institute for Public Policy Research was revealed as ministers prepared to publish a blueprint aimed at keeping teenagers out of trouble. It is expected to include more cash for youth groups and other activities.

But the institute says radical measures are needed. It says many disruptive youngsters will simply ignore out-of-school activities unless forced to attend.

Its study found that 44 per cent of British youngsters had been involved in a physical fight in the previous year - against just 28 per cent in Germany, 36 per cent in France and 38 per cent in Italy.

Some 38 per cent confessed to under-age sex, almost double the French figure. The same percentage had tried cannabis, more than five times the rate in Sweden.

Our teenagers are also bigger drinkers, with 27 per cent admitting to getting drunk regularly. In Italy, the figure is five per cent and in France it is just three per cent.

The researchers found that UK children rarely talk in any depth to their parents or sit down to family meals.

Just 64 per cent ate a main meal with their parents several times a week, against 93 per cent in Italy.

They also spend more time 'hanging out' with other teenagers, meaning they learn how to behave from each other and are not taught 'how to get on in life'.

The IPPR also says British adults are becoming afraid of trying to curb out-of-control youngsters. We are less likely than our European counterparts to confront teenagers about antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

Ministers set the scene for the youth blueprint yesterday by announcing an outlay of almost £1.4billion on out-of-hours homework, art and drama clubs at primary and secondary schools.

The 'extended schools' initiative, where schools open ten hours a day, is aimed at helping latchkey children as well as encouraging more mothers back to work full-time.

But the IPPR wants 'a legal extension' to the school day to make pupils take part in afterschool activities such as martial arts and cadets groups, which have been credited with curbing anti-social behaviour.

Senior research fellow Julia Margo said: "Britain has a real problem with its teenagers. But it isn't their fault."

She said the Government's youth strategy, to be outlined to Parliament today, was an admission that teenagers had been left to their own devices for too long.

But she warned: "The worry is that if the Government is too touchy-feely and just offers teenagers the activities they say they want, we will fail another generation.

"Every child should be expected to do at least an hour a week of constructive after-school activities. They might not like it but the evidence shows that the ones who don't want to do it are the ones who would benefit the most."

The IPPR wants more pupils encouraged to follow pursuits such as Girl Guides and Scouts, Army, Air and Sea Cadets, martial arts, drama clubs and sporting teams.

The warning came as Schools Secretary Ed Balls said youngsters would be able to stay on at school in the evening as part of plans to keep all schools open between 8am and 6pm by 2010.

But despite the £1.38billion spending on the initiative, middle-class parents will still face charges for some extra provision.

The IPPR report adds to recent disturbing evidence that Britain is among the worst places to grow up in the developed world.

Unicef claimed earlier this year that British children were among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in Europe.

Ministers have disputed that report but acknowledge that more needs to be done to provide purposeful and constructive activities.

They plan a sharper focus on preventing anti-social behaviour before it becomes entrenched, with the cost to society that entails.

Premier Gordon Brown is keen to promote activities which encourage responsible citizenship, community service and volunteering and has already championed the spread of combined cadet forces to state schools.

Mr Balls is understood to want a 'good youth centre' in every neighbourhood.