One of the major issues facing young people today is the responsible consumption of alcohol and this is evident by the rising number of drink driving offences, binge drinking statistics and alcohol related health problems.
Campbelltown City Council in South Australia is proving to young adults that they can have a great night out without getting blind drunk, through its gutsy alcohol awareness program, ‘Know Your Limits’.
Developed in 2005 by Council’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), the unique program targets young people aged 18 to 25 years.
Participants are taken by bus on a supervised ‘pub crawl’ and have one drink at each venue while taking part in a range of tests.
Participants are able to consume a maximum of six drinks over the five hour period.
Before the trip, they undergo a general test, which aims to gauge how much young adults know about the effects of alcohol and its responsible consumption. Questions include, ‘How much is a standard drink?’ ‘How many is too many?’ and so forth.
Blood alcohol readings are then taken throughout the night by an official police breathalyser to assess each participant’s alcohol tolerance.
At each stop participants are also involved in a range of fun activities, which test their ability under the influence of alcohol.
These include ‘beer goggles’, which are used to simulate how alcohol consumption can affect vision and coordination; ‘Lightening Reaction’, a game which uses harmless electric shocks to assess reaction times; and Gran Turismo, an arcade car rally game used to reinforce the dangers of drink driving.
Campbelltown’s Youth Development Officer, Daniel Popping, said the aim of the program is to give young adults a ‘real life’ assessment of their personal alcohol tolerance so they can make informed choices when drinking socially.
“In many cases, all young people hear about responsible drinking is older people telling them not to drink or not to drink and drive,” he said. “But they are never practically shown why this is important and how alcohol can affect people.”
Council aims to run the program annually, with Campbelltown residents aged 18 to 25 able to sign up to participate via Council’s youth website.
During the pilot program in 2005, a documentary was filmed throughout the night, with participants sharing their experiences and views on alcohol and drinking.
The video was screened at YAC’s National Youth Week ‘Reel Life’ Short Film festival in April 2006 and is now considered an important peer education tool.
A number of South Australian Councils have since picked up and modified the program to promote responsible drinking to young adults within their own areas.
For further information contact Daniel Popping on (08) 8366 9213.
