Preventing Alcohol Use Among Teenagers

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation

Introduction
Alcohol is widely used among young people especially teenagers. In Australia,
alcohol is considered to be a drug that is socially accepted despite the fact that it results in
deaths of many teenagers. Alcohol has various health related risks. According to the National
Drug Strategy Household Survey, 77.8% of children between the age of 12 and 17 years have
never taken alcohol (Bradley & Greene,2013). The report also found out that 1.5% of teens
between age 13 and 17 consume alcohol every week. There are various reasons why
teenagers end up falling into alcoholism. Some of the reasons include peer pressure, desire to
feel and look grown up, curiosity, behavior observed from parents, rebellion and boredom
(Toumbourou, Gregg, Shortt, Hutchinson & Slaviero, 2013). The public health promotion
plan focuses on the student population at Sydney Boys High School. This program focuses on
teenagers who are at a high risk of falling into alcohol use. The project targets both male and
female students at high school level of education. The aim of this project is to prevent
teenagers from abusing alcohol and use help the ones that have already started drinking quit
the habit.
Health promotion and target group outline
Statistics indicate increasing level of alcohol abuse among school going teenagers.
More than 31% of the children who use alcohol beginning consuming immediately after
joining high school or on their second year of study (DiClemente, Hansen & Ponton, 2013).
Research also indicates that most teens experiment alcohol at home and hence this means that
parents have a huge role to play in preventing alcohol use among teens. Teenagers mostly
beginning drinking sweet, flavoured alcohol before progressing to many varieties. According
to a survey conducted by Bupa Healthwatch research, the drinking rates among children
between the age of 12-17 years have doubled over the past 20 years (Kelly et al.(2015). From
the data collected in the year 2015, around one in every 10 teenagers report binge drinking

which is at a risky level. For every one in five teenagers between the age of 16 and 17, they
drink at a high risk level (Kelly et al, (2015). The study also indicates that drinking among
teenage boys is almost two times more than girls the same age. This can be attributed by the
fact that boys are more curious than girls and hence they end up experimenting with alcohol
at an early age. Around fifty percent of Australians believe that drinking under parental
supervision among teenagers is acceptable(Humensky, 2010). However, this is not right
because alcohol has significant negative impact on the brain and social lives of teenagers.
Some of the effects of alcohol use by teenagers include;
 Alcohol use leads to difficulties in learning and poor memory capacity
 The earlier children begin drinking, the more likely they will continue drinking
into their early adulthood. They may end up getting deeper into alcohol and even end up
becoming addicted
 Risk of violence and injuries among teenagers between the age of 12 and 17 is
higher than among adults taking alcohol (Catalano et al. (2012)
 Taking alcohol among the focus group contributes to reckless and risky sexual
behavior.
From the above discussion, it is clear that there is great need to promote the need for
children between the age of 12 and 17 years to abstain from alcohol.
Health Promotion aims
The aim of this project is to help children abstain from alcohol consumption because
alcohol consumption in Australia begins at a very early age. This project will therefore help
to save many children from Sydney the menace of alcohol use which has been on the increase
in the past few years. The project also aims at secondary prevention. This will involve
assisting the kids who have already began using alcohol.
Health Promotion Prevention management perspective