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Chapter 6: Alcohol and young people

Chapter aims

This chapter addresses the following key questions:

• To what extent do people in Scotland accept or disapprove of underage drinking?
• How are people's attitudes towards underage drinking affected by the age of the young person or the context in which the young person is drinking?
• What do people think are the best and worst ways of tackling the problems associated with underage drinking?

Introduction

Reducing harmful drinking among children and young people is a key priority in the Scottish Executive's Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems. Alcohol Statistics Scotland 2005 ²³ reports that 40% of 15 year-old boys and 46% of 15 year-old girls reported drinking in the past week, while the proportion of 13 year-olds drinking alcohol in the past week has doubled from 10% in 1990 to 20% in 2004 (based on the Scottish Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey, SALSUS, 2004).

Amid high levels of political and media concern about teenage drinking, how does the Scottish public view the issue? The SSA sought to establish the extent to which underage drinking is generally accepted or disapproved of by different groups in society, as well as exploring people's views on what types of policies and initiatives are likely to be most and least effective in addressing the problems associated with underage drinking.

Is underage drinking accepted or disapproved of?

Underage drinking occurs in many different contexts. Children and young people drink at different ages and in different situations (e.g. at home, in pubs, in parks or other public places, etc.). SSA respondents were presented with three different scenarios:

A fourteen year-old, drinking a small amount of alcohol, at home, with their parents, so long as they don't get drunk

A seventeen year-old, drinking a small amount of alcohol, at home, with their parents, so long as they don't get drunk

A seventeen year-old, drinking alcohol in a pub with their friends

For each scenario, they were asked whether they personally thought this was wrong or not, leaving aside whether it is legal (in fact, the first two scenarios are legal - it is legal for children to be supplied with alcohol in their own home from the age of 5 years).

Table 6.1 shows respondents' views on each scenario. The 17 year-old drinking in a pub with friends attracts most disapproval - 61% of respondents thought this was always or mostly wrong. The 17 year-old drinking at home, in contrast, attracts the least disapproval - 71% of respondents think that this is rarely wrong or not wrong at all.

It is interesting that even though it is not illegal for a 14 year-old to drink at home with their parents, and the scenario specifies that they were drinking a small amount and not getting 'drunk', this scenario still attracts significant levels of disapproval - 42% think it is always or mostly wrong for a 14 year-old to drink at home, and a further 10% think it is at least sometimes wrong. Thus it appears that although attitudes to underage drinking vary depending on the context and the age of the young person involved, disapproval of younger teenagers drinking even small amounts of alcohol in 'safe' situations is still fairly high, while disapproval of any teenagers drinking in a pub before they are 18 is very high.

Table 6.1 Attitudes towards underage drinking scenarios

Unsurprisingly, disapproval of alcohol consumption by teenagers is strongly related to age. Seventy-eight per cent of those aged 65 or over think a 17 year-old drinking in a pub is always or mostly wrong, compared with just 32% of 18-24 year-olds. Respondents with lower educational qualifications, as well as those who did not drink at all themselves were also more likely to think that each of these scenarios was wrong.

Figure 6.1 Views on underage drinking scenarios by age (% who think they are always/mostly wrong)

Bases: 18-24 = 125, 25-39 = 399, 40-64 = 705, 65+ = 408

Views on tackling underage drinking

Table 6.2 shows attitudes towards a list of possible policies and approaches to tackling underage drinking. Making it compulsory for licensees to ask for proof of age where there is any doubt whether a young person is 18 (one of the measures proposed in the current Licensing (Scotland) Bill) is the measure considered most likely to be effective by the highest proportion of respondents (31%). Younger people were more likely than older people to think a 'no proof, no sale' policy is most likely to be effective in tackling underage drinking (43% of 18-24 year-olds, compared with 26% of those aged 65+). A fifth of respondents think stricter punishments for shops that serve underage drinkers will be most effective. These findings suggest that measures which focus on the licensee taking responsibility for checking whether drinkers are 18 and punishing the licensee for failing to do so are viewed as most likely to be effective.

There is less support for punishing parents of persistent underage drinkers (with 32% rating this as least likely of all the measures listed to be effective), increasing policing or controlling advertising (again, a quarter of respondents thought this was least likely to be effective). The findings on the potential role of education are ambiguous. While a fifth of respondents think that teaching young people about sensible drinking at school will be most effective in tackling underage drinking, around 1 in 8 rate this as the least effective measure. Even among 18-24 year-olds, who might be considered more likely to have a 'definite' view on the likely impact of education on alcohol, 16% rated this most effective and 22% least effective. Those with a degree were, however, twice as likely (27%) as those with no qualifications (13%) to say teaching young people about sensible drinking would be most effective. Conversely, those without qualifications and those in routine or semi-routine occupational groups are more likely than those with a degree and professionals and managers to think stricter punishments for shops who sell to underage drinkers will be effective.

Table 6.2 Views on most and least effective measures to tackle problems of underage drinking

Key points from this chapter

• Attitudes towards underage drinking vary depending on the context and the age of the young drinker. People are most likely to disapprove of underage young people drinking in pubs with their friends, while they are least likely to disapprove of older teenagers drinking at home with their parents.
• Disapproval of younger teenagers drinking is relatively high, even when this involves small amounts of alcohol in a 'safe' situation. Forty-two per cent of respondents thought it was always or mostly wrong for a 14 year-old to drink a small amount of alcohol at home with their parents.
• Younger people, aged 18-24, are less likely than older people to disapprove of underage drinking in general.
• There appears to be relatively strong support for a 'no proof, no sale' policy as an effective measure to tackle underage drinking. This is supported more strongly by younger people than by older people.
• There is relatively little support for taking action to punish the parents of underage drinkers - a third of respondents thought this was the measure least likely to be effective in tackling the problems associated with underage drinking.

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