“What are the factors that influence young teenagers to drink?”
Author name: Date: 15/03/2012
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Abstract Adolescence is the period from which an individual goes though changes from a child to an adult. There are many factors that can influence these changes and how they develop into a mature adult. Consuming alcohol is one of those factors that can change and influence how an individual develops into an adult. There are many reasons to why an individual may start to drink alcohol at a younger age; these can include such things as parents, peers and media. Teenage drinking is a major problem in Australia with 90 per cent of kids age 14 and older having tried alcohol at least once. Having tried alcohol at such a young age can then lead to major health problems late on in life, such as memory loss, speech impediments and alcohol addiction. Although these terrible long term affects that can happen starting drinking at such a young age teenagers still continue to drink. So this leaves the question what are the factors that are influencing teenagers to drink? The purpose of this Independent Research Project was to find answers to my research question: “What are the factors that influence teenagers to drink?” I conducted one questionnaire which was used to find out the wider communities opinions on the matter. It was aimed at teenagers age 14-18. An interview was also conducted with a counselor who deals with young adolescent every day. This was to provide me with a more in-depth opinion on the matter from a professional perspective. A literature review was also conducted to find back ground information on the topic and what other researchers had already found on the topic.
Throughout my primary research it was found that the majority of my survey thought that peers were the major influence, even my interview stated that peers were the most influential factor. My secondary information did not agree with said as with all my sources I used stating that parents were the biggest influence on a child’s perspective of alcohol. Therefore my research question was answered with parents, peers, media and Greif all being contributing factors to influencing a teenager to drink.
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Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those that helped me through the highs and lows of my IRP and their assistance. In particular: - Mrs. Luhrs – who offered continued support throughout my IRP and for providing endless information and guidance. - The Librarian - who helped me continuously with resources, print and media. - My family- who were there for endless support, encouragement and advice throughout the entire research - My peers- for their encouragement and support for they were experiencing the same events. - Interviewee for letting me interview them and for them taking the time to go through the questions and answering them.
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Introduction The research topic I have chosen relates to the reasons why teenagers drink. Therefore my research question is what are Factors that Influence underage drinking? This topic was of interest to me for it is something that is affecting my age group and my peers. I have peers and close friends that have participated in underage drinking and I
have almost lost a good friend due to underage drinking so this is a matter that means a lot to me. This is also a huge concern in my generation with teenage drinking accidents and fatalities on the rise. I myself have participated in underage drinking and I am interested to find out other people’s views and knowledge about the factors that influence people to drink at such a young age. This research topic relates to the following community and family studies content areas and are relevant to the following syllabus focus areas: Content Area Groups in Context
Learn about: Youth
Individuals and groups
Peer acceptance
Wellbeing
Physical
Learn to: Describe people who belong to different groups within society by: - Identifying the needs of the people in these groups - Evaluating the access of these groups to resources - Examine how it may impact on an individual’s development in both positive and negative ways Examine the range of factors that can impact on wellbeing in order to develop a holistic definition of the term
Groups in context relates to my topic through youth and how youth always do things in groups. Such as drinking alcohol, this activity is mostly done in groups and rarely done alone. Individuals and groups relates to my topic through peer acceptance. Throughout adolescents individuals just want to be accepted and can fall under peer pressure to be accepted by their peers. Wellbeing contributes to my assignment through the effects of drinking alcohol at such a young age. This can affect them physically through memory loss, speech impediments and being injured due to fights or accidents whilst being under the influence of alcohol.
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Methodologies For my research I used surveys, interview and literature review Surveys (written questionnaires) To collect information for this research topic I conducted one survey that was aimed at teenagers aged 14 to 18. The topic of underage drinking could raise some ethical issues due to it is a sensitive area and people may feel uncomfortable to answer some questions truthfully. Therefor a questionnaire allowed people to remain anonymous and feel comfortable to answer questions. I also chose to complete because it was able to obtain a large amount of information, and gave me an idea on the wider views in the outer community. It also gave me quantitative information which would be easy to collate and place into graphs. It also gave me qualitative data which can be used to support my key findings from both secondary and primary research. Participants were selected by both stratified and convenience. Stratified sampling was used to divide the ages and try to get roughly the same amount for each age. Convenience sampling was then used to select at random people who were around that age by going to a class that contained teenagers around the age I was looking for. I handed out 60 questionnaires from which I got 40 back. The questionnaire on teenage drinking focused on: -
What they thought the major influences were
-
Weather they thought teenage drinking was a problem in their community
Weather them themselves had participated in underage drinking or if they knew of anyone that had
Interview In order to collect information for this topic I needed to get a more detailed perspective on the topic. Therefore I decided to interview a school counselor who deals with young teenager’s every day and has a greater understating on the topic. This interview was conducted to obtain qualitative data about underage drinking such as their summarize what I wanted to find out – their opinion summarize the questions Literature review In order to conducted primary data for this topic a number of secondary sources were reviewed to build background knowledge for this topic. There was a lot of information on this topic for it was been very popular in the media and it provided me with a lot of qualitative data, which I could use to back up and compare to my primary information. Throughout my literature review I wanted to find some back ground information on the topic and see what other researchers have found on this topic.
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Secondary Research http://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/adolescent_drinking/
Viewed: 28/11/11
Adolescent drinking: the influence of parental attitudes, modelling and alcohol supply. By Dr Delyse Hutchinson MAPS, Dr Elizabeth Maloney, Dr Laura Vogl MAPS and Professor Richard Mattick MAPS National Alcohol and Drug Research Centre, University of New South Wales This website explains how teenage drinking is getting bigger and bigger in Australia. Statistics show that 86 per cent of Australian students have tried alcohol by age 14, with this figure increasing to 96 per cent by age 17 years (White & Hayman, 2006). It also talks about how the people that are drinking are not drinking within the Australian guide lines and are exceeding these limits. With 44 per cent among 17 year olds and 22 per cent of 14 year olds are exceeding the alcohol limits (White & Hayman, 2006). It also states how parents are one of the largest suppliers of alcohol to teenage kids, and the younger they introduce the teenager there is a higher risk of developing a drinking problem in the future. In addition to other negative outcomes including violence, motor vehicle accidents, memory loss, high risk sexual behaviour and physical injury (Clark et al, 2004). It also talks about how if a young adolescent consumes alcohol around their parents then they are more likely to consume less alcohol than if they were around their friends. Parent’s attitudes towards drinking can also influence an adolescent’s behaviour towards alcohol; if the parent consumes a lot of alcohol on a weekly basis then they are more likely to engage in alcohol.
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport10/factors.html Parenting influences on adolescent alcohol use by Louise Hayes, Diana Smart, John W. Toumbourou and Ann Sanson Viewed 12/12/11 This report talks about how if a parent consumes alcohol on a weekly basis it can have a significant impact on a child’ perspective on drinking. A study that was conducted by Quin and Stephenson 1990 shows that from a sample of 2336 children in grades from year 5 and 6 that some children were more influenced to drink and had more intention if their parents drank at least weekly. They were also influenced if a close friend drank or a sibling. From the information Quin and Stephenson 1990 collected they found that parental influence on drinking was third compared to siblings and peers. Parent alcohol abuse and peer pressure was also reviewed throughout a study conducted by Barnes and Farrell (1992) and showed that if the parents abused alcohol it had an indirect effect on the adolescents alcohol use (Barnes and Farrell (1992)). In this study they also found that if an adolescent had a history of alcohol abuse in the family and had a high regard for their peers then they were more likely to follow their peers.
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Drugs in Focus: teenage drinking: the facts and issues Published and authored: Australian Drug Foundation second edition 2008 Viewed 30/11/11 This resource talks about many influences on teenage drinking. It talks about how teenage drinking is socially acceptable and how it is served in many social and recreational situations and its use in often encouraged (ADF 2008). It talks about how the media plays a big part as stated “drinking is portrayed positivity in popular television, in advertisements and on the internet” (ADF2008). It also talks about how family can influence a child to drink were they say that adolescents are more likely to disagree with drinking if their parents actively disapprove. Friends and peers are also discussed and how they can play a major role, such as alcohol is generally a group activity and are more likely to drink around friends than alone. Establishing an identity can also be an influence on teenage drinking. An adolescent may want to experiment and try new things, and taking risks and consuming alcohol are often common. Premixed drinks or other known as “alcopops” are another influence to teenage drinking, this is a concern for they contain higher alcohol content than wine or beer and are sweet and mask the taste of alcohol. An unpublished data sourced from the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey shows that 77% of females and 73% of male’s ages 14-19 years who drink at risky levels consumed premixed spirits as much or more than any other alcoholic beverages (ADF2008).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13779834 BBC © 2012. 16 June 2011 last updated at 23:30 GMT Parents' behaviour 'can influence teen drinking ‘Comments (319) By Dominic Hughes viewed 2/02/12 This article talks about the influences parents can have on younger children. It talks about how if a child sees their parents drunk they are twice as likely to get drunk themselves. It also talks about how poor parental supervision also raises the likelihood of teenage drinking was quoted from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A survey done by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation of 5700 children aged 13 to 16 showed that one in five children had claimed to have been drunk by the time they were 14 and by the age of 16 half of those questioned said they had been drunk. They also explain that if a child starts to drink at a very young age such as 10 or younger they will drink excessively in the teenage years, or if they are shown to alcohol later in life by friends and have not been taught to drink responsibly than they can drink excessively and dangerously.
Healy, J. (2011) Alcohol and Binge Drinking, Spinney Press Throughout this book Justin Healy talks a lot about underage drinking. They talk about how around 90% of teenagers over the age of 14 have tried alcohol at least once, and how alcohol is one of the most common drugs in Australia. Estimates suggest that half of the population over the age of 14 years of age drink alcohol at least weekly (alcohol Abuse J Healy). Due to these statistics this shows that parents are becoming less tolerant to letting their children drink for it is more socially accepted. Schoolies is also discussed and how it can influence young kids to go. Over 70 per cent of males and 60 per cent of females attend schoolies which results in getting drunk almost every night for a week.
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It also discusses the long term and short term effects it can have on teenagers such as memory loss, motor vehicle accidents, fighting and unprotected sex. http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Alcoholandteenagers
Viewed 7/12/11 Last updated 14/11/2011 This website talks about how around 90 percent of teenagers above the age of 14 have tried alcohol at laser once, and alcohol is responsible for most of the drug related deaths in teenage population. It gives parents great advice that can help reduce alcohol abuse by young teenagers. It also talks about how studies have shown that parents are the most influential role models, and children can learn by imitation. Some things that they recommend for a parent to not do include to drink moderately, don’t drink at every socialize event and to never drink and drive, for these can majorly influence children to drink.
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Primary Data
Age of respondents 13
14
15
16 2%
17
18+
3% 7%
32% 24%
32%
Out of forty (40) participants surveyed the majority of participants were 16 and 17. This may be because of convenience sampling methods used to select participants.
gender of respondents
female 43% male 57%
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Q.1 have you ever participated in underage drinking? no 30%
yes 70%
For question one I found that 75 % of my survey had admitted to participating in underage drinking, and 30% had not. Overall the majority of the participants had participated in underage drinking.
Q.2 are you aware of anyone that has participated in underage drinking? no 5%
yes 95%
Judging by the above information I have found that 5% said they were not aware of anyone participating in underage drinking. 95% of the applicants said they do know of someone that has participated in underage drinking.
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Q.3 have you ever been pressured into drinking whislt being under the age limit
yes 37%
no 63%
Judging from the above information more than half of the survey population said they had never been pressured into drinking underage. 37% of participants said they had been pressured to drink underage.
Q.5 Do/Have your parents allowed you drink under the age limit no 23%
yes 77%
Out of the 40 participant’s 31 ticked yes for their parents allowing them to drink underage. That then left 9 people that ticked no to their parents do not allow them to drink whilst being under the age limit.
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Q.6 if you ticked yes how often?
regulary 10%
speial ocasions 55%
occasionally 35%
Out of the 31 people that ticked yes from the above question 10% said they were allowed to drink regularly, 35% said they were allowed to drink occasionally and 53% said they were allowed to drink on special occasions.
Q.7 how aware are you of the laws against underage drinking? very aware
aware
0%
unsure
7%
unware
completely unaware
8% 10%
75%
The Majority of the participant’s (75%) said they were aware of laws against underage drinking. 7% were unaware, 8% were completely unaware and 10% said that they were very aware. I believe it is a positive outcome if 75% are aware of the laws against drinking, but some may not follow these.
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Q8. do you believe the following can influence underage drinking other 3%
media 28%
family 14%
peers 55%
Participants could select one or more responses for the above question. As shown 55% believe that peers can influence underage drinking, 28% said media, 14% said family and 3% said other.
Q.9 do you believe underage drinkng is a significant problem in your comunity?
not sure 30%
yes 45%
no 25%
Judging by the above information I can see that 45% believe that drinking is a problem in our community, 30% are not sure and 25% said no it is not a problem in our community.
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Q.10 do you agree with underage drinking?
yes 34% not sure 42%
no 24%
Judging by the above information 42% are not sure if they agree with underage drinking, 34% do agree with underage drinking and only 24% disagree with underage drinking.
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Interview transcript 1. Do you believe teenage drinking is a significant problem in our community? If yes why? Yes I do believe it is becoming a significant problem in our community for more and more kids are starting to participate and ever year they start younger and younger. Also there are more incidents happening and more deaths, from stupid behavior when they are drunk such as bottling and fights. Teenagers are also drinking very irresponsibly which is resulting in alcohol poisoning and even death. 2. What do you think influences young teenagers to drink and why? Some of the teenagers I deal with are mainly pressured by their peers and media. Most young teenagers just want to be popular and fit in, and if everyone else is doing it and pressuring them to do it then they are more likely to fall under this pressure. Media and TV shows are also a big one, for example Jersey Shore and those types of TV shows show young fit people going out and having a great time with alcohol. This influences even younger kids to go out and try alcohol because it looks “cool”. Greif or depression is also another influence for kids to try alcohol. If a young teenager lives in a not so good environment, is suffering from grief or has troubles at school and/or home it can result in them turning to alcohol for an escape. It can result in them then turning to drugs or becoming a binge drinker which can have major physical effect in the long term. Parents are also a big factor for they might provide their child with alcohol and/or let them start drinking earlier so they can get used to it and learn to drink responsibly. 3. What do you think is the most influential factor and why? I think it would be peer pressure for peers a major influence in any young teenager’s life. Not only in drinking can they influence but in school work and social life they can have significant influences. In the teenage years people also tend to fall for peer pressure for they just wont to fit in and to feel a part of a group and if this involves drinking then the majority of kids will do it.
4. Do you think that the problem has become worse over the years? Why? I don’t think the problem has become worse I think that it has just been more advertised and has now started to be recognized as a problem. Also all the technology has played a massive part in getting kids involved such as advertising a party over Facebook and it increases the number of people drinking underage which can result in more fights, unprotected sex, drink driving and stupid behavior.
5. Do you think drinking can be different between genders? How?
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I believe it can for men can handle a lot more alcohol than a female and there for men tend to drink twice as much as a female. Men also drink a lot of beer wear as women tend to drink more spirit drinks. Therefor women might get drunk a lot more easier than a male would, for they are drinking much stronger drinks. This can also increase their chance on alcohol poisoning.
6. Do you think that the problem of teenage drinking could get worse in the years to come? No I think it might get better for there has been a lot of advertisement about the effects, and there are school programs now to warn teenagers about the effects of drinking at such a young age. There are also programs for parents and TV shows such as a current affair also help give advice to parents to not encourage drinking or help keep the drinking under control and stick to the Australian guide lines.
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Analysis I have used several sources both primary and secondary data to help find what are the major influences on underage drinking. The primary results found that the majority of teenagers believed that peers and media were the major influences in their community. From the questionnaire I found that 95% of participants were aware of someone that had participated in underage drinking. This can be a major problem in our community for this means that they may not have participated but they know of one or more people that have participated. Only 37% said that they had been pressured into underage drinking and 63% said they had never been pressured into underage drinking which indicates that they had done it out of their own will. A 16 year old female stated yes to being pressured to underage drink, and said “to have a good time and be with others” and a 17 year old female also stated “other people, groups, friends, family being surrounded by drinking” had influenced her to drink. This shows that there are many contributing factors that influence underage youth to drink. From my secondary information I found that parents are the biggest influence on teenage kids to drink. From the article aadolescent drinking: the influence of parental attitudes, modelling and alcohol supply in the study conducted by Quin and Stephenson 1990 shows that from a sample of 2336 children in grades from year 5 and 6 that some children were more influenced to drink and had more intention if their parents drank at least weekly. This is quite different to what I found throughout my research because I found that peers were the driving force. 77% said that their parents had allowed them to drinking whilst being under the age limit and with everyone I surveyed being under the age limit this is a very large percentage, with only 23% saying no. Secondary information I had found from the Issues in Society book by Justin Healy talked about how parents think that alcohol is one of the less dangerous drugs and are therefore more likely to allow their children to drink whilst being under the age. This can pass on wrong views to that child. My interview with A also stated that these days parents are more likely to buy their kids alcohol because they think it is one of the less dangerous drugs. Interviewee A also said that some parents believe it is better if they start off earlier for they can get used to drinking alcohol and can learn to drink responsibly. The majority of my survey stated that they were aware of the laws against underage drinking which mean majority of the survey know what the laws are, but are still willing to drink whilst being under age. This can have impacts on the community with teenagers not following the laws, and can influence more teenagers to drink. Also parent’s attitudes towards teenage drinking can also influence them to drink for example from my interview they stated that parents might supply there child with alcohol or let them start drinking at a younger age so they can get used to drinking and learn to drink responsibly. This can influence the child’s views on the laws against underage drinking. Just over half of my survey believes that peers are a major influence to drinking followed by 28% stated media, 14% stated family and 3% said other which included parties and it’s the “in thing to do”. This information is supported by my secondary information but in my secondary information that I found in Parenting Influences on Adolescent alcohol use it states that peers and siblings play a bigger role over parents but if a parents consumes alcohol on a weekly basis it can impact on a child’s perspective on drinking. The interview I conducted with Interviewee A stated that most of the Teenage Drinking
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kids he/she deals with each day say that peers are the biggest factors that influence teenagers to drink underage. Also he/she said that grief can also give young teenagers a way to escape or if things are bad at home those young teenagers can often turn to alcohol to escape from their problems. Turning to alcohol can then lead to drugs and a poor lifestyle. 45% of the survey thought that drinking was a significant problem in our community, 30% said not sure and 25% said no. My interview with interview A also agreed that drinking was a significant problem in our community. Interview A thought that it was a significant problem because of all the fights and bottling that can harm themselves and others that happens at underage parties were there is alcohol. Also my secondary information from Justin Healy Alcohol and Binge Drinking talks about the long and short term effect which can include memory loss, motor vehicle accidents, fighting and unprotected sex. These can all have a significant impact on the community. 42% of the survey said they were not sure if they agreed with underage drinking, 34% said yes and 24% said no.
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Conclusion It was expected that throughout the data I collected it would show that the influences would have been peers, media, and family. Both primary and secondary data did support both of these but I did find out some extra information from both primary and secondary. In my primary data through my interview I found that grief can play a role in influencing a young teenager to drink. If they are suffering from grief or having trouble at home or school they can turn to alcohol for an escape from all the trouble and hurt. My secondary data answers my research question with every source found saying that parents are one of the most influential factors and peers are also up there with parents. Media was mentioned in a few sources which also answered my research question, but was not as influential as peers and family. Compared to the research I conducted which I found that peers were the biggest factor followed by media and then family. This may have been because I only had a small sample size and was conducted at a catholic school. Therefore they may hold the same views and opinions compared to a different school. Recommendations for future research:
-
-
Increase sample size. Increasing my sample size would have provided a greater amount of data and would have got a wider a view of the community. It would also be less bias. I would have also conducted more interviews for it would have provided me with a more detailed over view and would have collected more detailed points. I would have organized my interview earlier so I could have conducted it face to face instead of having to rush and do it via email. If I have conducted it face to face it could have lead me to more useful information for I may have been able to ask more questions. From my research I have found that we should have more programs for parents to help with teenage drinking, and the effects it can have on their kids. I also think we need more school programs so we can teach adolescents the effects of drinking and what can happen if you start at such a young age. There should also be more media advertisement about teenage drinking and the effects that can happen. This may then scare teenagers off from drinking until the legal age.
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Bibliography - http://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/adolescent_drinking/ Viewed: 28/11/11 Adolescent drinking: the influence of parental attitudes, modeling and alcohol supply. - http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport10/factors.html Parenting influences on adolescent alcohol use by Louise Hayes, Diana Smart, John W. Toumbourou and Ann Sanson Viewed 12/12/11 -
Drugs In Focus: teenage drinking: the facts and issues Published and authored: Australian Drug Foundation second edition 2008 Viewed 30/11/11
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13779834 BBC © 2012. 16 June 2011 Last updated at 23:30 GMT Parents' behavior 'can influence teen drinking ‘Comments (319) By Dominic Hughes viewed 2/02/12
-
Healy, J. (2011) Alcohol and Binge Drinking, Spinney Press
-
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Alcoholandteena gers
Viewed 7/12/11 Last updated 14/11/2011
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Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 Methodologies ......................................................................................................................... 5 Secondary Research ........................................................................................................... 6 Primary Data............................................................................................................................. 9 Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 17 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 19 Bibliography............................................................................................................................ 20
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Appendix Interview questions 1. Do you believe teenage drinking is a problem in our community? If yes why do you think it is?
2.
What you think influences young teenagers to drink and why?
3.
What do you think is the most influential factor in underage drinking? Why?
4.
Do you think that the problem has become worse over the years? Why?
5.
Do you think that drinking can be different between genders? How?
6. Do you think that the problem of teenage drinking could get worse in the years to come?
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My name is _____________ I am a year 12 student at Mater Dei Catholic College. I am conducting this questionnaire as part of my assessment requirements for community and family studies. I intend to find out about the factors that influence teenage drinking. If you do not wish to participate in this questionnaire or do not feel comfortable you do not have to participate. All responses will be kept confidential. (Please state) Age: _________ (Please tick) Gender: Male
Female
1. Have you ever participated in underage drinking? Yes No 2. Are you aware of anyone that has participated in underage drinking? Yes No 3. Have you ever been pressured into drinking whilst being under the legal age limit? Yes No 4. If you circled yes, can you explain what pressured you into underage drinking?
5. Do/have your parents allow you to have a drink under the age limit? Yes No occasionally only on special occasions 6.
How aware are you of the laws against underage drinking? (please tick the one that applies to you) Very aware Aware Unsure Unaware Completely unaware
7. Do you believe that the following can influence underage drinking? (please tick the ones that apply to you) - Environment you live in - Your peers - Family - Media Please turn over Teenage Drinking
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If you have circled one or more of the above explain how they can influence underage drinking
8. Are you aware of any other influencing factors that could contribute to underage drinking?
9. Do you believe underage drinking is a significant problem in your community? Yes No not sure 10. Do you agree with underage drinking? Yes No not sure
Thank you for your time and assistance please return to me by the 30th of February.
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