Press Interpreter

02/08/06 –- Alcohol usage is a socially accepted phenomenon. It is a bad example for young people.

In the school year 2000-2001, 15% of 17 to 18 year old students said they had used cannabis on a regular basis. Last year this figure dropped to 6.5 percent.

It is one of the hope-giving findings from the yearly pupils questionnaire from the Organisation of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems (Vereniging voor Alcohol- en andere Drugproblemen – VAD). The number of regular smokers also lowered during that same period (from 24 to 17 percent of the 12 to 18 years old), while alcohol usage remained more or less stable.

“We are indeed happy with these figures�, says Marijse Geirnaert of the VAD. “I think it proves that prevention indeed does make sense. Many schools, for instance, are conducting information campaigns about drug usage for quite some time. It does have effect.�

“On the other hand, there is little reason to rest. New, young pupils are still joining, and some figures do remain relatively high.�

The VAD remains particularly worried about the high number of alcohol users at a relatively young age. 8 percent of 12 to 14 year olds and 57 percent of 17 to 18 year olds claim to consume alcohol on a regular basis. “Luckily, it concerns less and less the so-called alcopops. After the launch, these drinks were extremely popular for some time, particularly because many did not seem to realise how strong and how treacherous they are.�

The problem is that alcohol usage has deep roots and is socially accepted in our society. Twelve year old children do also easily get in touch with alcohol on communions and other family festivities.

“And this is no good�, says Geirnaert. “On the one side, the influence of parents is very high because of their exemplary behaviour. This is not only valid for alcohol usage, but also for smoking. When a parent, for instance, never sits behind the steering wheel under influence of alcohol, then chances are high that his or her children will follow this good example. On the other hand, it is also bad purely physical. Scientific research has shown that the brains at the age of twelve are still in full development and that alcohol usage influences this growth in a biomedical way.�

The VAD questionnaire furthermore shows that usage of illegal (hard) drugs and medication does exist, but that it is only a marginal problem in secondary schools.

[Full article]

By MM

--Translated by Serge Claes

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