Courses to spell out dangers of alcohol

The problems of binge-drinking among under-18s has reached such an extent in towns such as Scarborough and Whitby that a new course is being launched to spell out the consequences.

Scarborough Council announced yesterday that the programme, dubbed After Math, is being set up to deliver hard-hitting messages of the perils of excessive drinking.

It is hoped the move will reduce alcohol-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour as well as the number of hospital admissions.

A national survey by the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation published in June revealed 20 per cent of children aged between 13 and 16 claimed to have been drunk by the time they were 14.

The council’s community health and safeguarding officer, Sandra Rees, said: “There is an increasing number of young people that are drinking and getting drunk leaving themselves vulnerable, at possible risk of being assaulted – including sexually – and causing anti-social behaviour as well as alcohol-related assaults.

“The After Math programme has been developed to do some preventative work with these young people from across the borough.”

The first of the two-hour courses will be held at Scarborough Magistrates Court on Monday next week. Teenagers and their parents will be warned about health problems linked to excessive drinking as well as the threat of a criminal conviction if they are embroiled in drink-related violence or anti-social behaviour.

The new initiative will also involve North Yorkshire Police, Scarborough Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department and the Cambridge Centre, the Scarborough-based charity which provides drug and alcohol advice.

More information is available from Ms Rees on 01723 383627.