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APPENDIX 3: SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS RAISED AT THE SUMMIT ON UNDERAGE DRINKING
The Scottish Government Alcohol Misuse Team hosted a Summit on Underage Drinking with the aim of bringing together a broad range of stakeholders to consider what might be done to tackle underage drinking in Scotland. The Summit also offered an opportunity to provide feedback on related aspects of the Scottish Government's alcohol discussion paper.
The Summit, which took place in Edinburgh on 2 nd September 2008, was attended by around 170 delegates from a range of public agencies, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and youth organisations. Most delegates were professionals working in the area of alcohol and / or with young people. The event was also attended by a significant number of young people from youth organisations such as the Scottish Youth Parliament and local youth projects and initiatives.
The event was structured around workshop discussion groups which were facilitated by representatives of the Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot and Youthlink Scotland. There were four different workshop topics or themes:
- Why do young people drink?
- Prevention and education: changing attitudes to alcohol misuse and drunkenness;
- Reducing access to alcohol; and,
- The role of parents and carers.
Workshop Theme 1: Why do young people drink?
This workshop theme covered three questions:
1.1 Why do young people in Scotland start drinking at an early age?
1.2 What action should the Government and its partners take to tackle the root cause of underage drinking?
1.3 What alternatives to alcohol or diversionary activities would young people wish to see being provided?
1.1 Why do young people in Scotland start drinking at an early age?
The key issues raised in the group discussions were:
- Young people feel they have nothing to do; drinking is something to do to relieve boredom; it is a form of escapism
- Peer pressure is a significant factor in alcohol consumption - friends do it so there is pressure to drink
- Young people felt that alcohol is easy to get and relatively cheap
- Many participants felt that advertising (and sponsorship) and media (including portrayal of celebrities and 'role models') promotes drinking and is targeted at young people
- A number of people mentioned that some young people feel that copying adults and drinking in the house is acceptable
- Young people may also want to get drunk as a way of dealing with stress
- For young people getting drunk can also help them to lose their inhibitions
- There needs to be a realisation that young people like drinking (and the way it makes them feel)
- Young people see it (underage drinking) as a challenge and a way of pushing the boundaries in the process of growing into adulthood.
1.2 What action should the Government and its partners take to tackle the root cause of underage drinking?
Seven common themes emerged from group discussions around this question:
- It is crucial to recognise and support the role parents should play in tackling underage drinking
- Education on alcohol in schools can play an important part in supporting parents
- National and local government needs to support and fund diversionary activity / local projects for young people
- There is a need to involve young people in devising alternatives to drinking alcohol and in providing information about alcohol
- The cultural norm that drinking is a central part of social life needs to be tackled ( e.g.TV soaps currently revolve around pubs) - although there was also a view that the 'continental' culture of drink is a positive norm that would help to tackle the Scottish drinking culture
- Stronger enforcement of current law on underage drinking is required
- There should be an increase in tax on high volume alcoholic drinks.
1.3 What alternatives to alcohol or diversionary activities would young people wish to see being provided?
Four main themes arose out of the groups discussions on this issue:
- Diversionary activities such as football, Youth Clubs and under-18 discos provided at the right times - in the evenings and at weekends - are required. Since youth clubs and under-18 discos are often seen as 'not cool' they need to be innovative and interesting
- Cheaper / free transport in rural areas is needed to make diversionary activities accessible to all
- Alternatives, such as the cinema, need to be priced realistically in order to make them affordable
- Government and partners need to consult young people and realise that not all young people are the same.
Workshop Theme 2: Prevention and education: changing attitudes to alcohol misuse and drunkenness
The discussion groups on this theme explored three questions:
2.1 How can we better educate children and young people about the dangers of alcohol misuse?
2.2 How do we encourage and support a long-term change in attitudes towards alcohol among young people and the general public?
2.3 How can we best get across the messages that drinking alcohol can encourage risk taking behaviours that are not in young peoples' best interests?
2.1 How can we better educate children and young people about the dangers of alcohol misuse?
Suggestions on how to better educate children and young people included:
- Alcohol is only one of many things affecting young people's behaviour so we need to deal with their whole behaviour and not just alcohol misuse
- Education at different levels is required - at home (parents as role models); formal education in primary as well as secondary schools; peer education (this needs to be developed and supported); and, education in the wider community
- Social marketing can be useful, especially if it provides clearer messages in a non-patronising way
- There is a need to counter the influence of the media and advertising that glamorise drinking
- There is also a need to educate / provide information about 'responsible' drinking and not just the potential harm of binge drinking - e.g. 'social norming' would help young people realise that not everyone drinks irresponsibly.
2.2 How do we encourage and support a long-term change in attitudes towards alcohol among young people and the general public?
Discussion around the question of encouraging long-term changes in attitudes among young people and the general public raised the following issues:
- Society has an ambivalent attitude to alcohol which leads to uncertainty about how it is dealt with. For example: is alcohol a 'harmful' drug or vital part of out economy? There is uncertainty about when is it legal to drink and conflicting advice about how much it is safe to drink. Unless these uncertainties and the ambivalent attitude to alcohol are resolved in a way that re-balances society's views of alcohol, it will be very difficult to change attitudes toward alcohol among young people
- There is a need to stop demonising certain people - alcohol misuse is an issue for the whole population, not just young people. A number of participants questioned whether the strategy is a whole population strategy or targeted at young people.
- Any attempt to change attitudes towards alcohol among young people has to recognise and deal with the view that being introduced to alcohol is a 'part of growing up'. Young people want to be adults and drink is one measure of this. This reflected back on earlier discussions about educating young people on 'responsible' drinking.
- Adults need to provide a good example; parents need the skills and information to help them in this. Role models could be a useful tool.
- Schools could do more to change attitudes but it was felt that they need more resources to allow them to do this effectively
- There is a need to make it 'uncool' to drink. However, it was felt that there is a danger that raising the minimum age of purchase for off-sales would be viewed as a 'prohibition' and this could make it more of a challenge for young people.
2.3 How can we best get across the messages that drinking alcohol can encourage risk taking behaviours that are not in young people's best interests?
Participants made a wide range of comments and suggestions in response to this question, including:
- There is a need to understand why young people drink; they like risk and challenges and do not think about long term impacts or risk to their health
- Young people need to be involved in assessing and then explaining the risks related to drinking alcohol to their peers - young people should not be patronised
- Some young people respond better to adults who are not their parents and so they must have the opportunity to talk to other adults about alcohol
- Peer education should play an important part in alcohol education (both in and outside schools) but it needs to be resourced
- Using the internet and latest technology, e.g. videos on Facebook, etc. may be effective
- Positive messages are needed alongside the negative ones
- Young people need to be consulted and the government and partners most understand the messages that best communicate with young people; there is a need to tailor and localise messages
- Advertising campaigns should be more hard-hitting about the dangers and risks.
Workshop Theme 3: Reducing access to alcohol
This workshop explored four issues:
3.1 How do children and young people under 18 years of age currently access alcohol?
3.2 How might we reduce young people's access to alcohol?
3.3 Will restricting off-sales purchase to those 21 and over and introducing minimum pricing reduce levels of harmful drinking in young people?
3.4 Will introducing minimum pricing reduce levels of harmful drinking in young people?
3.1 How do children and young people under 18 years of age currently access alcohol?
The discussion groups identified four main ways in which young people under 18 years of age access alcohol:
- From parents and at home
- Random strangers and local alcoholics purchase it for them from off-sales
- Older siblings
- By using fake identification.
3.2 How might we reduce young people's access to alcohol?
A number of possible measures for reducing young people's access to alcohol were suggested:
- Introduction to moderate drinking by parents in social settings; this requires better information and education of parents
- There is a need to provide safe places for alternatives to alcohol
- Enforce existing legislation, expand test purchasing and bottle marking schemes and focus on third party purchasing
- Learn lessons from the anti-smoking campaign which is generally seen as being effective in changing attitudes towards smoking
3.3 Will restricting off-sales purchase to those 21 and over reduce levels of harmful drinking in young people?
Most participants were opposed to, or sceptical about, the Scottish Government's proposal to increase the drinking age to 21 in off-sales. The issues raised in relation to this question included:
- Raising the minimum age for off-sales purchase to 21 age could have the opposite effect to that intended - i.e. young people could rebel against it and see it as a challenge and work at getting round the ban
- Doubt was expressed on whether an older age limit could be enforced, given the difficulty in enforcing current legislation and age restrictions
- Clarification (and possibly consistency) is needed on all age related laws
- The use of proof of age ID needs to be strengthened
- The minimum age for purchase needs to be the same (18 or 21) for both on- and off-sales
- Doubts were raised about the evidence from the local pilots (which raised the minimum age for off-sales to 21) and from abroad. What was the real impact of the pilot in Armadale ( e.g. there was some increase in off-sales on Thursdays)? Should there be bigger and longer pilots?
- It was felt that 18 - 20 year olds who currently are able to purchase alcohol from off-sales would be particularly annoyed by an increase in the minimum purchase age to 21
- A number of participants felt that increasing the minimum age to 21 demonises 18 - 20 year olds
- Increasing the minimum age for off-sales purchase could encourage young people to go to pubs and clubs and buy alcohol through the internet.
3.4 Will introducing minimum pricing reduce levels of harmful drinking in young people?
There were mixed messages / views from the discussion groups on this issue with no clear view in favour or against the Scottish Government's proposals. Points made included:
- A number of participants felt that young people are price sensitive so increasing prices might reduce their consumption, but people with alcohol dependency might not be deterred by higher prices
- It was noted that the impact of minimum retail pricing will depend on which drinks are to be affected. Some believed that drinks that young people prefer may not be affected by minimum pricing
- Higher prices may lead to more shop lifting and other crime to pay for drink
- Young people might turn to alternatives such as drugs which would be relatively cheaper alternatives
- Minimum pricing affects everyone so is unfair to 'responsible' drinkers.
Workshop Theme 4: The role of parents and carers
This workshop explored what parents and carers might do to encourage responsible drinking among their children and what information in relation to young people and alcohol parents would find useful. Issues raised in the discussion groups included:
- The need to set an example; this requires parenting skills and parents to be role models
- Parents need to be able to talk to their children about these issues and be able to teach them 'coping strategies'
- Parents and carers must understand the role of alcohol; they need to do more than just give basic information. They need better and consistent information ( e.g. on alcohol units and guidelines) to pass on to young people
- A whole population approach is needed; i.e. cannot this cannot be seen as just a problem for young people
- Children and young people need advice at all stages of growing up and messages, etc. need to be targeted at different ages, contexts etc.
- Many felt that better education about alcohol in schools is vital
- Parents and young people need more information about diversionary activities, counselling, peer advice, etc.
- Different ways need to be adopted to approach young people in schools; e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous representatives visiting schools would be a useful source of information and advice
- A number of workshop participants noted that achieving the cultural change required will take time and therefore there needs to be a long-term commitment to funding and supporting information programmes.
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