Underage pupils 'drink until drunk'

Excessive underage drinking and taking over-the-counter medications as a narcotic are just some of the "ever increasing numbers of risk behaviours" that some city pupils engage in.

Girls, particularly, are also becoming more and more at risk as higher numbers take to experimentation and binge-drinking.

The findings are from a study conducted last year by researcher Saahier Parker into youth perceptions, practices and risky behaviour, among other things.

Surveys were conducted at eight city schools among a sample group of 475 pupils, between Grade 8 and Grade 10.

The average age was 15,2 years old in the sample group that ranged between 13 and 21 years.

The in-depth study indicated that while the majority of pupils (77 percent) had not had a drink within the 30 days before the study was conducted, the figure in terms of multiple drinks of those who had done so (67 percent) - was far greater than the national figure of 49,1 percent and more than double the province's average of 33,9 percent.

According to Parker, the findings seemed to indicate a "dramatic shift in patterns of binge-drinking", with girls in Grade 9 showing a particular prevalence toward multiple alcoholic drinks.

"Though underage alcohol consumption is harmful, illegal and cannot be justified, it is the act of drinking excessively (until drunk) that poses a high risk to youth as this impairs judgment, releases inhibitions and increases the risk of unplanned sexual contact...

"The correlation between grade level and reported probability to drink until drunk is a cause for concern as it indicates a damaging social norm among youth that promotes this drinking behaviour as acceptable, wherein at Grade 10 level nearly 40 percent of learners indicate that they usually do or may drink until drunk in the following 12-month period."

Ciders were cited as being the most popular drink, followed by beer, spirits and wine.

There was further concern raised in terms of the propensity of Grade 9 girls to drink heavily as they reported a higher level of finding underage drinking acceptable. "This may be attributable to females reaching puberty earlier than males and therefore expressing an earlier eagerness to partake in adult behaviours."

In terms of substance abuse, the current trend was the use of "over-the-counter" medication.

"These are things such as cold and flu or cough medications that are cheap, available and without any prescription and in large amounts would produce a similar effect as the narcotically induced 'trip' or 'high' produced by street drugs.

"Almost 50 percent of all pupils surveyed indicated that some or most of their friends used drugs, which 'heightened the risk for personal involvement in substance use and abuse'."

Parker said while youth reported being well-informed regarding risk behaviours and exposure to them, they were still reporting high rates of involvement in these activities. "Within this lies the danger to young people in that they are not empowered to convert awareness into positive behavioural shifts ... a large majority actively participate in risk practices," he said. - Cape Times