Newsroom
31/03/2010 ¦ National Association News Finland: 10 years of co-operation to prevent youth alcohol useto labelling
The social responsibility programme of the brewing industry has two key focuses: the prevention of alcohol abuse and underage alcohol use. ”We teamed up with the Youth Academy because we were concerned about alcohol use by under-eighteens. We wanted to educate young people and provide them with leisure-time alternatives,” says Tero Kallio, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry.
“Together, we’ve sought approaches in which youth play a key role. We don’t force information on them – instead, we let young people think about what things are important to them and what they want to do about this issue,” says Heikki Vuojakoski, Executive Director of the Youth Academy.
Effective means of preventing drug and alcohol use
Youth leisure activities focus on the Mahis service, which encourages 13-17-year-olds who are in difficult life situations to plan leisure-time activities for themselves. Encouragement and support for implementing projects are provided by an adult counsellor and financial aid of EUR 600. Mahis assists 100 youth projects every year. Mahis has challenged 1,420 youth groups and more than 13,000 young people to make their dreams come true. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry has contributed to the youth projects. A total of EUR 724,735 in financial aid has been granted to them.
In 2001-2007, the brewing industry gave out awards for the drug and alcohol prevention plans of upper comprehensive schools. As from 2008, these plans were replaced with the Luulot Pois (No More Misconceptions) education programme, which tackles erroneous ideas. “Young people believe that their peers drink more alcohol than they actually do. These misconceptions fuel risky behaviour – young people start behaving the same way as they believe their peers do. By eliminating misconceptions, we can effectively prevent drug and alcohol use and other risky behaviour. The Luulot Pois method has been used by more than 500 school classes,” says Vuojakoski.
“Through our co-operation with the Youth Academy, we want to support drug and alcohol-free childhoods. Our ‘Drunk, You’re a Fool’ campaign sought to question the binge drinking culture of adults,” says Kallio.
For additional information, contact: |
|
The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry and the Youth Academy have worked together since 2000 to prevent underage alcohol use and related problems. For ten years, the partners have supported the activities of youth and drug and alcohol prevention, both in schools and during leisure time.