Most of us agree that targeted education and support programmes will create a better understanding of responsible drinking, a recently released survey shows.

The annual survey by the NZ Alcohol Beverages Council aims to understand New Zealanders views on how alcohol is perceived across a number of issues.

One question asked what respondents thought of alcohol education programmes in schools and 76% agreed that this will reduce alcohol-related harm.

“All the research tells us that the earlier you can start talking to teenagers about drinking the less likely it is they will become hazardous drinkers – or start drinking at all, which is why education programmes are so important”, says NZABC executive director Virginia Nicholls.

Since 2019 the Tomorrow Project - a social change charity governed by Spirits NZ, NZ Winegrowers and the Brewers Association – has funded the Life Education Trust to deliver ‘Smashed’, a theatre-in-education programme that included an interactive workshop for 12- and 13-year-olds.

The programme also provided practical information on what a standard drink was and counting drinks, and talked about safe drinking, binge drinking, peer pressure, better decision making, and availability of zero- and low-alcohol drinks.

Independent research showed the programme was supporting positive changes to youth drinking culture.

“The evidence suggested pupils who attended the programme gained an increased awareness of how different forms of alcohol-related harm might impact them and their peers”, Mrs Nicholls said.

“It is encouraging to see that in NZ in 2022 fewer young people drink and drink less hazardously, with 57.1% of 15 to 17 year olds having had alcohol in the past year which is 17.4% less (74.5%) than 2006/07”, Mrs Nicholls said.

According to the NZ Youth 2000 survey an increasing proportion of secondary school students are choosing not to drink. The proportion of secondary students who have never drunk alcohol increased markedly from 26% in 2007, to 45% in 2019.

Over time, young people are drinking less often. In the total student population, young people who used alcohol in the past month fell between 2007 and 2019 from 49% in 2007 to 34% in 2019.

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