Learning to think before you drink

It takes a lot to shock a room full of teenagers - especially at the end of the school day.

But in schools and colleges around Yorkshire an alcohol awareness scheme is managing to do just that.

Fresh Knowledge is a Yorkshire-based alcohol management service that aims to teach people how to drink safely.

Sue Stone is one of the alcohol management counsellors who travel around the region, advising youngsters and professionals on how to handle alcohol and keep drinks safe from spiking.

She does not want to stop anyone drinking - far from it. But she does want to make them think about the consequences.
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Binge drinking was highlighted in the news this week as the widow of a man kicked to death outside his home demanded action to stop yobs terrorising the streets.

Garry Newlove's widow, Helen, said her husband would be alive today if the Government and police had done more to curb the behaviour of drunken gangs of vandals.

Cheshire Police's chief constable Peter Fahy, who was on patrol the night Mr Newlove was attacked, has also said more should be done to prevent drunk teenagers doing "stupid things".

He called for age limits on buying alcohol to be raised and price promotions on drinks banned.

Statistics show that 16 to 24-year-olds are the biggest drinkers in the UK, points out Sue Stone, so it is vital to reach them early.

That does not mean spoiling anyone's fun, she assured a group of about 30 students at Askham Bryan College attending an afternoon session but, in the beginning, they do not seem convinced.

Sue has 20 years of experience as a counsellor, and once worked at Leeds Detoxification Centre.

The youngest person she saw there was 16. "His life had absolutely hit rock bottom," she tells the group.

"In this country, one in 20 adults are alcohol-dependant. Statistically, that means at least one of you in your thirties would not be able to live without alcohol in your system."

That does not have much effect on this class. In fact, few will even admit to drinking at all.

Eventually, 18-year-old Mary Watkinson, raises a reluctant hand.

"I'll admit it because nobody else will," she says, embarrassed.

"Tell me what you drink on a Friday night and don't worry," says Sue. "I'm not your mum. I'm not going to tell you off."

Mary's Friday night begins at about 8pm, with three 330ml bottles of WKD alcopop.

She will have another in the next bar she goes to, three shots of vodka with coke later on, and six more bottles of WKD before going home.

Mary knows that, as an adult female, she is only supposed to drink two to three units a day. "That's almost as much as what is in one bottle of WKD," she tells her classmates.

Yet she does not know why she should stick to her limits.

"Men's bodies are made up more of water and women's are made up more of fat," explains Sue.

"Alcohol stays in your fat content for slightly longer and it takes one hour for your body to detox one unit of alcohol.

"Who are the spirit drinkers in here?" she asks.

With growing confidence, more raise their hands. One girl comes to the front and is given a bottle of water and a wine glass.

"Show me how much vodka you would pour yourself," says Sue.

Next, she asks who drinks beer and whether they know how strong it is.

By now, most are happy to talk, shouting out their favourite tipples and guessing their alcohol content.

Surprisingly, none of the guesses are even close.

"Beer varies greatly from strength to strength," Sue reminds them.

"You will learn that half-a-pint of beer is one unit, but how strong is that beer in the guidelines?

"Actually, it's three per cent. If you're drinking something like Stella, it's 3.5 units."

By now, she has measured how much water was poured into the wine glass - three units.

The group was even more shocked to realise Mary's nine alcopops and three shots of vodka on a Friday made up more than 20 units of alcohol.

"That will take 20 hours to get out of your system," says Sue.

"If you drink at 9pm on a Saturday, it will take until 4pm on the Sunday for it to be completely through your system but, because you have drunk way over what your body can deal with, it is a minimum of another ten hours after that before your reaction speeds and thought processes are back to normal."

When you do drink, says Sue, it's important to realise the effect it has on your body. If they learn anything from today, she says, it should be not to mix vodka with Red Bull; a caffeine-based drink commonly mixed with the spirit.

"When you drink, you loose magnesium and potassium through your urine," she said.

"They are vital to help keep your heart rate up. When you drink vodka, your heart rate will drop slightly, but if you then drink Red Bull, your heart rate will soar up and you can't control it. It could cause heart palpitations and strokes.

"Don't, I beg you, drink vodka and Red Bull,"

Of course, in the long term, alcohol abuse can be even more serious.

Sue shows the group pictures of livers: normal, fatty and diseased.

"When your liver stops, you die," she said bluntly. "It's as simple as that."

At the beginning of the session, I never thought the group would heed Sue's warning. But by the end they seem genuinely touched.

"You might think it will never happen to you, and your body won't be affected, but it happens to somebody all the time so why shouldn't it be you?" she said.

"You might drink for years and nothing will happen, but one day it might come and bite you on the bum."

The expert

Yorkshire has one of the biggest drinking problems in the country, says Sue Stone, so education is important.

"I've found the sessions to be very successful," she said. "I think there is a definite need for them, as well as a demand.

"I think they (the students) are unaware of how much they drink because they tend not to realise that they drink as much as they do.

The sessions won't get them to stop drinking, she says, but that's not the point.

Instead, she wants them to drink safely, to be alert to the dangers of mixing caffeine and alcohol and to take care of their drinks in pubs and clubs.

"Unfortunately, it's that attitude of it's never going to happen to me'," she said.

"Most of these incidents happen when people are with their mates. Their mates are not the answer to keeping themselves safe."

The Press newspaper in York