According to the annual New Zealand Alcohol Beverage Council survey, there was an average consensus that targeted education and support programmes would create a broader understanding regarding responsible drinking.
The survey was also designed to garner knowledge on New Zealander’s perception of alcohol concerning various issues.
One question asked what respondents thought of alcohol education programmes in schools, and 76 percent agreed that this would reduce alcohol-related harm.
“All the research tells us that the earlier you start talking to teenagers about drinking, the less likely they will become hazardous drinkers. Or start drinking at all, which is why education programmes are so important,” revealed Virginia Nicholls, the Executive Director of the New Zealand Alcohol Beverage Council.
Since 2019 the Tomorrow Project, a social change charity governed by Spirits New Zealand, New Zealand Winegrowers and the Brewers Association, has funded the Life Education Trust to deliver ‘Smashed’. This theatre-in-education programme included an interactive workshop for 12 and 13-year-olds.
The programme also provided practical information on what a standard drink was and counting drinks and talked about safe drinking, binge drinking, peer pressure, better decision-making, and the availability of zero and low-alcohol beverages.
Independent research showed the programme supported positive changes to youth drinking culture.
“The evidence suggested pupils who attended the programme gained an increased awareness of how different forms of alcohol-related harm might impact them and their peers.”
Nicholls emphasised that it was encouraging to see that in New Zealand in 2022, fewer young people drink, and those who also drink less hazardously. 15 to 17-year-olds who have consumed alcohol in the past year was 17.4 percent less (at 57.1 percent) compared to teenagers drinking from 2006 to 2007 (74.5 percent).
According to the New Zealand Youth 2000 survey, an increasing proportion of secondary school students choose not to drink. The ratio of secondary students who have never drunk alcohol increased from 26 percent in 2007 to 45 percent in 2019.
