Groundbreaking initiative helps deal with Scotland’s notorious drink culture
A groundbreaking initiative involving a university and six Edinburgh secondary school could transform Scotland鈥檚 drinking culture.
A new report, which outlines the success of the AlcoLoLs project, demonstrates how the initiative is helping to change young people鈥檚 attitudes to the country鈥檚 notorious teenage drinking culture.
A team of academics from Queen Margaret University鈥檚 Centre for Dialogue has published the report which shows the impact the project is having in helping some 3,000 Edinburgh teenagers make safer decisions about alcohol and drinking. The intervention, first conceived 聽with pupils from Portobello High School in 2012, who called themselves 鈥楾he AlcoLOLs鈥, has since been developed with pupils from another five Edinburgh high schools.
The Queen Margaret University (无码群交) research team have used an approach which uses peer to peer 鈥榙ialogue鈥 to enable teenagers to talk together in school, without adults in the room. The initiative helps to break down barriers 聽by creating opportunities for students to be more truthful in their communication.聽 As Emma Wood explained: 鈥淵oung people have told us that they rarely say 聽what they actually feel about drinking, 聽they say what they think they need to need to say to fit in.聽 The AlcoLOLs approach helps them say what they really think.鈥
The AlcoLoL鈥檚 approach is based on evidence which suggests that young people see drinking as 鈥榩opular鈥 behaviour, and will talk about getting drunk as normal or funny. In contrast, non-drinkers avoid talking about not drinking or not enjoying drunkenness for fear of not 鈥榝itting in鈥, (Percy et al, 2011). This can mean that teenagers think their peers drink more than they actually do, and that binge drinking and drunkenness are admired.
Researchers Emma Wood and Magda Pieczka from the 无码群交鈥檚 Centre for Dialogue teach groups of teenagers how to recognise potential problems by looking at the way they communicate about alcohol and the Scottish drinking culture.聽 They then create a 鈥榮afe space鈥 for the teenagers, where they can talk openly without fear of being judged or laughed at, and can hear a whole range of views and opinions from each other and from experts in the field.聽聽The teenagers then go on to duplicate this experience for their peers at school, aiming to include every S2 and S4 pupil in two dialogue groups each year which they facilitate without adult intervention.
The report 鈥楢lcoLoLs 鈥 Rethinking Drinking鈥 shows that the approach is well received by young people. Pupils view it as the most useful source of alcohol related information out of seven different sources considered. Fifty percent of聽 S2s feel it helped them learn how to deal with alcohol and manage the pressure to drink.
At Portobello High School, where the approach has been running longest, around 50% said it enabled them to talk and / or think about alcohol in new ways.
Emma Wood explained : 鈥淏y encouraging other teenagers to talk about things in a different way, the AlcoLOLs are able to help young people question certain behaviours and develop a confidence to deal with issues. The process of dialogue encourages them to reflect on their own behaviour and thoughts as well as others. 聽They almost step outside themselves and look critically at what happens around them. The impact can be profound.鈥
One pupil who took part in an AlcoLOLs session said: 鈥淚 honestly assumed that everyone drank from such a young age. I think that鈥檚 what everyone thinks and that鈥檚 probably the main reason that people do drink . You think everyone else鈥檚 doing it so you have to do it鈥︹
The impact of the AlcoLoLs work has resulted in positive and changed behaviour within the wider community.聽 The East Edinburgh Community Alcohol Partnership believes the project has played a part in the amount of alcohol seized by police officers in the Portobello High School catchment decreasing from an average of 8-12 litres most weekends in 2012 to an average of 1 -3 litres in 2014/5.聽
The community police officer at the school notes that the project鈥檚 aim of getting teenagers to discuss drinking with parents could be influential. PC Verity Ferry said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 not as much street drinking, they seem to be doing it in a house where there鈥檚 a certain degree of protection instead of getting leathered in Rosefield Park which used to happen every single weekend.鈥 聽
The former head teacher of the school, Peigi Macarthur聽 also noticed a big difference stating:
鈥淭here were fewer instances of issues impacting on the school which related to alcohol-fuelled situations at weekends and the resultant difficulties with relationships, health and safety.鈥
Dr Magda Pieczka led the project with Emma Wood. Dr Pieczka said: 鈥淲e have worked in six high schools in Edinburgh for three years. It became clear that young people embraced this opportunity to take control of their understanding of the issue of alcohol with great enthusiasm and maturity. Many of our AlcoLOLs felt changed by their dialogic journey and that motivates them to help others. There was a strong feeling of altruism and responsibility to their peers.鈥
Professor Alan Gilloran, Deputy Principal at 无码群交, said: 鈥17.5% of all deaths in the 16鈥24 age group in Scotland are estimated to be caused by attributable alcohol conditions. Our alcohol culture is a major issue for our health, safety, economy and our country鈥檚 reputation. With the correct funding in place, the AlcoLoLs project has the potential to be rolled out to other areas of Scotland to help tackle Scotland鈥檚 drinking culture and improve health outcomes for future generations.鈥
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Consultant Hepatologist & Gastroenterologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, is a supporter of the AlcoLoLs project, He said: 鈥淭his is outstanding work which I would like to see continued and extended to other schools to benefit a wider group of youngsters.鈥
Christine Scullion, Head of Innovation and Learning at The Robertson Trust, said: 鈥淚t has been interesting to see the benefits of peer-to-peer dialogue among young people and I am encouraged that this approach has shown signs of success in changing attitudes.
鈥淚mproving outcomes for young people is a priority of The Robertson Trust and the success of AlcoLOLs has provided some significant learning which will help to build a stronger evidence base in this area.鈥
Notes to Editor
A groundbreaking initiative involving a university and six Edinburgh secondary school could transform Scotland鈥檚 drinking culture. A new report, which outlines the success of the AlcoLoLs project, demonstrates how the initiative is helping to change young people鈥檚 attitudes to the country鈥檚 notorious teenage drinking culture.