Young People and Alcohol

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary:

There is alcohol education in schools, but we need to make sure this is as effective as possible in alerting children to the dangers of drinking.

We have now reached a worrying tipping point – where more 13 year olds have drunk alcohol than have not.

This is clearly a cause for concern.

Last autumn, we ran a half-term holiday campaign to confiscate alcohol for under-18s drinking in public places. Over the course of 4 weeks in just 23 local areas, nearly 3,700 litres of alcohol were confiscated – that’s the equivalent of about 6,500 pints.

Addaction:

“The police already take booze away from young people and fine them, but then nothing else happens. Young people simply move on to different places or spiral into difficulties and end up with a criminal record.

“Changes must actively involve parents. But many parents we work with are desperate to stop their kids drinking and haven’t been taken seriously when they ask for help. Too little investment is going into supporting families to help them to cope.”

Children & Young People Now:

Smith has announced that an £875,000 national crackdown on underage drinking in public will start next week, with police given more authority to enforce the ban.

She also called for the wider use of parenting contracts when alcohol is confiscated from underage drinkers. A multi-million pound public information campaign on the dangers of binge drinking will be launched this summer.

Cassandra Jardine in The Telegraph:

I am writing the cheque now. It’s for £1,000, the fine that I may be liable for when I break the “parenting contract”, which Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced for those who allow their underage teenagers to drink alcohol.

This summer, my 13-year-old and a tittering friend asked if they could have some wine with dinner. I said yes, not because I am weak or mad – though my children would dispute that – but because I was expecting it.

Twelve to thirteen is the age at which children start experimenting with alcohol, according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, conducted in 2001. “This reflects a desire, especially in boys,” says their report, “to move on from child status.”

Also here from the same paper.

The Independent confirms that the focus of the government’s next social marketing campaign has changed from under 18s to over 18s:

She [the Home Secretary] said a £10m advertising campaign this year would highlight the dangers of binge-drinking and raise awareness on the recommended levels of alcohol consumption.

It would be aimed at the minority of 18- to 24-year-olds “whose capacity for alcohol consumption seems to be matched in some cases only by an appetite for destruction”.

The Daily Mail:

She [the Home Secretary] delivered the blunt warning that 13-year-olds who drink are now in the majority for the age group – giving a total of nearly 350,000 in England and Wales – while unveiling heavily-trailed “new” powers to tackle the problem.

Miss Smith, who has sons aged 14 and nine, said police could be given new rights to confiscate alcohol from underage drinkers – those below the age of 18 – caught by the police in public places.

She also threatened the parents of underage drinkers with “parenting contracts” which could lead to a £1,000 fine if ignored.

The Guardian:

Smith used a Home Office conference on alcohol enforcement in north London to warn of the dangers of underage drinking and confirmed that she was prepared to tighten 10-year-old police powers to confiscate alcoholic drinks from under-18s in public places if changes were needed: “I will listen to the police and give them extra powers to make it illegal for under-18s to drink alcohol in public so that they don’t have to prove reasonable suspicion, if needed,” she said.

But the home secretary highlighted the fact that more than 333,000 13-year-olds have drunk alcohol and said she wanted to get to grips with the problem of underage drinking.

She announced that from next week a new £875,000 enforcement campaign will get under way over half-term to confiscate alcohol from under-18s drinking in public places. A similar campaign which ran in 23 local police divisions last autumn led to 3,700 litres of alcohol being confiscated – 6,500 pints – and this year the campaign, which will run from February 9 to 24, will take place in 175 local police divisions across England and Wales.

The Times:

She [the Home Secretary] rounded on parents who provide large amounts of alcohol for their children and demanded thay they take greater personal responsibility. “Nearly half of the alcohol obtained by young people appears to come from the family home. It is clear that parents have to hear the message as well. The idea that you can hand your kids a six-pack of lager and tell them to disappear for the evening – with no thought to the consequences – is frankly baffling to me.”

Ms Smith announced that she would look at amending existing laws, dating from 1997, which allow police to confiscate alcohol in public places if they suspect a person is under 18.

Filed under: alcohol, alcohol strategy , Jacqui Smith, underage drinking