Why Young People Drink

Developing Awareness

Children begin to develop an awareness of alcohol at a very early age through:

• Television
• Advertising
• Their family
• Their community

Research shows that by the time a child reaches five years of age, they have already formed basic attitudes and opinions about alcohol. Teenagers learn about alcohol through their own experiences, and observing the effects of drinking on family, friends and community.

Our teenagers learn from:

“… parents and peers, posters and propaganda, from pundits, publicans, priests, poets and performers, that in Ireland… a good social time and drinking alcohol are quite simply the same thing – without a good drink, and a few good drinks at that, you cannot have a good time.” Sunday Independent

Adults have a very important role to play in delaying the age at which a young person starts to drink.

Teenagers drink for many different reasons:

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