Educating kids on the dangers of booze

UNDERAGE drinking has raised alarm bells with 86 percent of teenagers, as young as 14, said to be consuming alcohol on a regular basis.

This comes as the government is pushing to have the age at which people can legally drink lifted from 18 to 21.

After eight young women aged between 15 and 23 died when a stairway collapsed at a Khayelitsha tavern last year, Weekend Argus did an investigation into under-age drinking. Our reporters found many teens regularly went partying and drinking.

South African Breweries (SAB) has taken the baton in an attempt to curb under-age drinking.

According to Sarah Anderson, SAB spokeswoman, “Teenagers use alcohol for many reasons such as dealing with boredom, as a coping mechanism against stress, anxiety and depression or because of low self-esteem and the need to fit in.”

She said a Unisa survey found 15 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls had their first encounter with alcohol before the age of 13. The Western Cape government last month issued a draft policy after its research indicated “alcohol is the most commonly abused substance countrywide”.

According to the alcoholrelated harms reduction policy green paper “the average consumption of pure alcohol per drinker is estimated at 27.1 litres per year, placing South African drinkers at the upper end of global consumption”.

To help curb the problem of under-age drinking, SAB launched an outreach programme called, You Decide.

Developed in partnership with the National Youth Development Agency, You Decide aims at helping teens realise how much better their future will be if they avoid under-age drinking.

The programme includes a road show that has visited more more than 1 700 schools and reached more than 750 000 teens since its launch in 2012.

“Teenagers may often be unsupervised during the school holidays so it is important for parents and adults to monitor teens as best as they can over the period. It is not okay for under-age youths to drink alcohol under any circumstances,” said Dunne.

The campaign’s toll-free line is 0800 33 33 77.

The Western Cape Education Department’s spokeswoman, Millicent Merton said: Safe Schools has a programme dealing with pupils who are using, or at risk of using, an illegal substance. The programme includes basic information on drug detection, peer counselling and specialised fields of drug control.

asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za

Under-age drinking is a big concern for experts and parents.