How your community addresses the issue of underage access to
alcohol will depend on the source of the problem. To assist
in identifying the problem investigate the following:
| 1) |
How are underage people obtaining alcohol? Is it from
a liquor store or from home? Are they getting friends
to buy it for them? |
| 2) |
How often are underage people obtaining alcohol? |
| 3) |
Where are they consuming the alcohol? At home or a friend’s
place? In a public area, for example a car park? |
| 4) |
What kinds of
are occurring from underage people accessing alcohol?
|
Once you have identified the problem there are a range of actions
members of the community can take to reduce access to alcohol
by young people and prevent alcohol-related harm in their area.
Some suggestions include:
Local Drug Action Groups (LDAG’s) provide support to communities
to reduce and prevent alcohol-related problems. A number of
LDAG’s have formed throughout the metropolitan and regional
areas of Western Australia. If there is not an LDAG in your
community it may be useful to establish one.
The Community Advisory Council (CAC) advises and assists community
groups regarding alcohol and drug issues. The Council can
represent the interests of young people, families, Aboriginal
and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities,
people from rural and remote areas, drug users and services
providers.
mediaWork with local groups in your area such as Local Drug
Action Groups (LDAG’s) and Community Drug Service Teams
(CDST’s), to raise community interest and awareness
about the issue.
Responsible service of alcohol training educates staff of
licensed premises about a range of aspects associated with
responsible service of alcohol. It will help staff to understand
the laws related to service of alcohol to underage people,
acceptable forms of identification and when underage people
can or cannot be on a licensed premises.
There are a number of different places that staff can receive in the responsible service
of alcohol. There is a cost associated with some organisations
and you may need to be working in the industry to qualify
for some of the training.
Alcohol-free events and other activities in communities provide
alternatives for youth, who might otherwise complain of boredom
and may choose to drink for the lack of something else to
do.
Examples of alcohol-free activities for youth include:
- concerts/gigs
- sporting and recreational activities
- camps
- leadership and skill building workshops
- art clinics.
If you would like to become involved in organising alcohol-free
events or activities for youth in your local area there are
a number of organisations that can provide information and
support.
Local Drug Action Groups (LDAG’s) focus their work on
engaging and supporting communities in planning and participating
in projects that aim to prevent and reduce drug-related harm.
The Fogarty Foundation Youth Leadership Program (FFYLP) is
able to provide advice on event development and funding applications
and are able to link you to other support networks. The FFYLP
is coordinated through LDAG Inc.
Community Drug Service Teams (CDST’s) have a good understanding
of local issues and can provide valuable support in running
and developing your event.
Youth Advisory Councils (YAC) comprise of young people who
are involved with their local governments. They can offer
support in the development and running of a event, can represent
your event directly to Council and also have access to funds.
For further information on how to plan and conduct an alcohol-free
event obtain a copy of:
School leaver celebrations following the end of Year 12 exams
is a big occasion that can involve excessive alcohol consumption
and has been associated with problems that:
- impact host communities
- increase high risk behaviours and legal implications of
underage drinking
- encourage negative social outcomes
- increase health consequences of drinking at a young age.
Binge drinking and high risk behaviour during leavers’
celebrations can be reduced and better managed if the:
- availability of alcohol is controlled
- young people are engaged in organised activities.
When a range of alcohol-free activities are provided, fewer
leavers drink alcohol and those who do drink, drink less.
Here are a few activity ideas that have been used successfully.
They can be adapted to suit your community’s needs:
alcohol-free rave party
break dancing displays
beach party
circus entertainers
karaoke
singing and band competitions
beach volleyball
sausage sizzles
scavenger hunt
sports matches.
(Information taken from School Drug Education Project
(2002) Leavers Live handbook: A guide to planning and developing
safer school leaver celebration).
Kalbarri Fogarty Foundation youth
leaders have really shown the Mid West that they know
how to ROCK!
-------------------------------------------------------
|
Implemented by the Kalbarri Local Drug Action Group
(LDAG) and Kalbarri Youth Advisory Council in partnership
with PCYC, , business community and Mid West CDST,
Kalbarri’s first outdoor rock concert AMBUSH
03 was realised as part of the Kalbarri Leaver’s
03 community response.
Ambush 03 was developed as a youth prevention-based activity
in response to a public meeting organised as part of the
Mid West School Leaver Celebration Strategy, where it
was noted that significant entertainment for school leavers
may have been a missing element in the 2002 Kalbarri leavers
initiatives.
Project Objectives/Achievements:
School leavers and the community celebrating together
in an alcohol-free environment.
Recognition of the need to provide live music/entertainment
in a safe, alcohol-free environment.
Accept that young people have different entertainment
needs and that community and youth could benefit from
working together harmoniously.
Kalbarri youth broaden their experience and develop organisational
skills with guidance from adult mentors.
Community celebration of achievement and recognition that
young people are equal and equitable members of the community.
As a result of this collaboration four Mid West bands
and one supremely talented soloist entertained almost
450 school leavers and local youth at the Kalbarri PCYC
oval in an Alcohol Free event extravaganza. The crowd
‘fairly rocked on’ as volunteers provided
food and non-alcoholic drinks. Additional activities included
circus skills, screen printing of bandannas, fire twirling
and a Chill Out tent provided by Carnarvon Local Drug
Action Group.
Everyone agreed the event was an absolute success, incident
free and a credit to the organisers who were absolutely
ecstatic with the turn out.
(Provided by Local Drug Action Group Inc.) |
Groups and individuals wanting further information regarding
school leavers’ celebrations are encouraged to contact:
Local Drug Action Groups focus their work on engaging and
supporting communities in planning and participating in projects
that aim to prevent and reduce drug related harm.
Drug and Alcohol Office (DAO) have established a network of
community contacts across the State who have past experiences
in implementing strategies to reduce harm to school leavers,
the host community and schools during school leavers' celebrations.
For more details about preparing for school leavers’
celebrations, obtain a copy of:
|
