Young people are regarded as vulnerable by the media – often exaggeratedly so. In the early 1990s they had become the focus of public concern regarding alcohol misuse. But attempts to educate teenagers into using alcohol sensibly have often been counterproductive. What kind of approach should alcohol education take to produce effective results?
Originally published in 1991, Educating Young Drinkers outlines the reasons for the lack of success in previous experiments in alcohol education at the time. It focuses on an activity-based primary intervention with young people as a possible solution. With the active involvement of school teachers, Gellisse Bagnall had developed a relevant and pupil-oriented programme designed for easy classroom use. The evaluation of the results of this experiment demonstrated that non-didactic alcohol education can be made to work.
In emphasizing the political and theoretical assumptions made in devising health education policies, Educating Young Drinkers was directly relevant to social scientists within alcohol and/or health education, as well as to policy makers. It would also be a valuable source of information for teachers and all those working with young people.