Post in Reforming liquor laws to combat crime

May 28 04:34 UTC

Hi everyone,

As a youth in Christchurch, I think the solution is not to spend time trying to
stop people gaining access to alcohol, but to actually teach them to drink it
responsibly.

Give your teenager a beer from time to time, drink with them, and learn to
negotiate with them about things like curfews. Just saying "NO" when they ask
you if they can go out for the night will not help. You may need to make some
sort of agreement that you are both happy with.

I can tell you now forcing them to stay home when their friends are out having
a good time WILL eventually lead to them leaving the house quite possibly
without you knowing, and I think this is where the binge drinking culture
evolves from. It might be some of your alcohol they have taken to drink, but
most often it will be someone's older sibling who is willing to buy it for
them.

My parents gave me a lot of freedom like that, and I believe it has made me
more responsible. I know a bunch of girls who like to "sneak out" and drink at
the park at all hours of the night. My mother would let me go down to the park
with them, and at first I wouldn't drink. I was merely there to make sure
everything was all right. Once a level of trust had been developed she would
buy me a six pack of beers to take down there and I would drink socially with
them. I always told my mum I would call her if we needed help, but there has
never been a problem.
I have no desire to get stupidly drunk because I have learned to drink
responsibly - something which is rubbing off on my friends.

However, I understand that other people do feel the need to get as drunk as
they possibly can. For that reason, a first response group called WE-Care has
been set up. It is part of the White Elephant Trust (www.we.org.nz), and
operates at all-ages events supported by the Trust. The overall role of WE-Care
is to act as role models at the events they attend and show other party-goers
that you can be sober and have a good time, and look after the general
wellbeing of everyone there. Many of us have been trained in first aid too, and
we also offer a taxi service for anyone that is near comatose and needs to be
taken home. There is a checklist (which I am in charge of ticking off) which
ensures the venue has everything we could possibly need to deal with any
situation.
It is a service not a lot of adults know about as it is not promoted heavily,
but any all-ages party supported by White Elephant Trust will have members from
the WE-Care team there showing others how to have a great time and stay sober.