how to stop!

[shanny]

Hi everyone I am new here, I am a 21 year old female who would love to hear suggestions on how youth drinking can be stopped. Almost every young person in my town drinks alcohol each weekend, binge drinking causes so many issues yet is so socially accepted these days, I would like any advice on what I could do as a youth worker to prevent this from happening. Any program I could create?

[vlad]

how to stop!

Hi Shanny, I'm a youth worker too - I think the key thing is to create something different for young people to do. We are trying to start a youth cafe on a Friday night with pool, wii and live music. We also go out on the streets talking to young people were they hang out, getting to know them and offering events and activities they can attend. Feel free to private message me anytime for a chat.

[tiptronic_ct]

how to stop!

Hi, Shanny

Welcome to the site. I'm a 39 y/o alkie and my kids are still very young, so I don't have much experience.

I'll gladly share what I have come across in the media in South Africa. maybe it will give you pointers for further research.

Binge-drinkning and drug abuse is rife here (as I guess it is in most countries). It is also not confined to any particular socio-economic groups - it happens across the board.

From what I gather, the experts say that young people don't have facilities and programs that would keep them busy doing other things. In very poor areas, our government has started investing in better sports facilities in those communities. Some private companies (like mine) allocate a set amount of money that staff members can use for educational, sport or cultural activites in their own communities. I'm also seeing an increase in the number of companies that take kids as interns during their holidays to gain hands-on experience.

Thinking back on when my own drinking started at university, it all goes back to peer pressure and complete and utter ignorance. If there is a culture of drinking in a community, kids will accept it as normal. So I guess education is a good place to start. In my days, the only resource available was a system whereby you could get a lift home if you were too drunk to drive yourself - that is in a way, condoning alcohol abuse. We didn't have any ideas about the effects of alcohol (I also doubt if we would have cared - we were invincible, right?)

The problem you're facing is that alcohol is a problem on so many levels. Number one, it is a legal drug and very easy to obtain. It is acceptable in most societies. Governments make HUGE amounts of money in tax and excise duties from the industry. Etc. etc.

Anyway - lest I start rambling too much... From what I've seen, providing some kind of range of activities that represent an alternative to drinking seems like the best route for you. Sports, culture, music, environmentalism etc. etc.

Good luck!

[TakeHeart]

how to stop!

Hello!

I started drinking as a teen and wish there was someone like you there for me. What you're doing will impact a lot of lives! Well done!

I think the others have said it...kids need things to do. Our idea of fun was someone getting some beer and standing around a bonfire drinking it. This led to a thought process of Socializing = Drinking. And, I am still at 40, dealing with socializing & fun not having to involve drinking.

I have found Wii to be a blast! I also would have the kids accountable in some way, such as being in charge of some event. Also, don't place a huge emphasis on being non-alcoholic...just be. I know if I got the staying sober route shoved down my throat, I would have backed off.

Good luck!!! Would love to hear progress!

[Gold]

how to stop!

Hi Shanny,

Good to hear from you and wonderful to know that you care so much about young people.

I don't know where you are, it sounds like the UK, but it seems this young drinking is a problem in many places.

You mention that binge drinking is socially accepted these days, I don't believe that it is, it may seem that way. I feel that people are so cowed and hopeless driven by media and government that they feel helpless and thus it seems accepted.

In my experience which is me as a teenager, my two daughters (now 17 and 20) and their friends, yes it is partly to do with not enough to do but I also believe it is influenced by the general attitude toward young people.

They are lumped together as youths, young people or whatever, state schools (in the UK at least) expect the worst of them, the education system is inadequate and focused almost solely on passing exams, and then on top of that they are continually bombarded with negative messages about jobs, housing, sexual health, physical health etc etc, and assumed to be less able to interpret life than adults.

I've seen many of my daughter's friends roaming the streets at night drinking, doing silly things, and yet when you actually talk to them they have much of interest to say and a great interest in the world around them. Clearly this is also a generalisation and there are young people who commit terrible crimes, but for the vast majority they are kind hearted, bombarded with negative messages, many have parents also influenced by these messages, and wish to live a purposeful life.

It is my belief that young people would benefit from an understanding of the greater spiritual realities of life, an appreciation of the energetic universe in which we live, a broader perspective on what the events in the world indicate, and a vision beyond the purely man made material world we are presently living in.

Certainly when I talk to young people in the course of conversation and the subject of matters such as 2012 come up there is a real thirst for understanding what is happening and who they are beyond their physical body. This is by no means exclusive to the young either.

God luck with your important work.