Parents who let children drink ‘fuel binge drinking’

Does it really take the chief medical officer to tell us that children who are exposed to heavy drinking and ‘drink-fuelled events’ at an early age are more likely to become binge drinkers?


The other revelation that seems to me to be relatively obvious, is that children of parents who drink sensibly and who talk to their children about alcohol, are more likely to grow up drinking sensibly…


I don’t mean to sound flippant and realise that there are significant problems in our society in relation to alcohol consumption; but it does raise the question, what is the actual source of the problem?


In fact maybe the only interesting point in this report, is that the children of parents who abstain completely from drinking are also in the ‘high risk’ group; presumably yet another demonstration the prohibition doesn’t work. I am not suggesting that parents who choose to abstain suddenly take up drinking, but rather that they need to be informed that it is even more important for them to talk to their children and not only preach abstention at them.


But it is certainly not for me in this forum to discuss parenting; that will start a whole argument I don’t want to get into.


Rather this article is of interest because of the renewed call for a minimum price per unit and the emphasis that much of the solution to the problems of alcohol related crime, binge drinking and underage drinking lies with parents and not just retailers.


I have a feeling that ‘minimum pricing’ will once again come to the fore after the general election, there seems to be clear political will which is only currently suppressed because of the votes which would be lost by anyone advocating it prior to an election. It is however just the kind of policy which would be introduced at the start of a new term in order for it to be accepted before any subsequent election.


One of the points the drinks industry might like to consider is that there are two ways this can be introduced; the first is as a simple minimum price per unit, where volumes would fall but some compensation would come through the increase in margins; the second is that the price per unit is introduced as taxation, which would be a hammer-blow for the sector and would undoubtedly lead to another spike in closures and job losses.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for people working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 17th December 2009

Wine-tasting club is the toast of top independent girls’ school

I realise that a wine-tasting club is very much the exception in schools rather than the rule and requires the ‘right environment’ to be effective. However no effort which is made to educate young people about alcohol should be dismissed; after all any scheme which has a positive impact on consumption of alcohol by young people must be a positive step.


The question is how do you take this example and make it available to a wider audience in a format which makes sense to them?


This is a question for government and schools, but there can be no doubt that education at an early age is one element in the fight to prevent binge drinking in young people; delivering a positive non condescending message is critical.


If we ignore the detail of the approach which this girls’ school can take and look at the principle behind it, this is what will ultimately help develop ‘similar’ educational programmes.


The message of this programme is not a negative one that everything associated with alcohol is bad, but rather a sensible drinking message. Alcohol is an interregnal part of the adult social scene and young people cannot be protected from exposure to it until their 18th birthday.


It is rightly illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase alcohol but parents and teachers must educate young people with a positive message so that the attraction of turning 18 is the prospect of ‘enjoying a drink’ and not of ‘getting drunk’.


We run a number of courses for young people including the Award in Alcohol Awareness (AAA) designed to educate young people about alcohol.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for people working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Independent
Date – 8th December 2009