Few adults monitor level of alcohol at home

A new survey by the Aislinn Centre has found that 9 out of 10 adults have some form of alcohol at home, but only half of them monitor their levels of alcohol.
Director of the Aislinn Centre, Declan Jones said the problem of alcohol abuse among young people is widely recognized, but it’s unfortunate that many people don’t know what to do about it.
“Despite the high level of people agreeing that there is an alcohol problem among young people only half of those surveyed, who have alcohol in their home actually check whether this alcohol might be being abused.”
Here are some key findings of the survey, and more quotes by Jones:

82 per cent of those surveyed said that young people under the legal drinking age can be prompted to try and regularly use alcohol from watching the drinking habits of their parents.

“Often parents give mixed messages to young people by allowing them to have a glass of wine with a meal and then tend to polish off the bottle themselves. This can teach young people that over-consumption is acceptable.”

90 per cent of people think that there is a problem in Ireland with alcohol abuse among 13-18 year olds.

76 per cent of those surveyed agree that young people (13-18) who drink alcohol regularly are more likely to also experiment with illegal drugs.

“Alcohol is the gateway drug for young people to experiment with illegal substances. We rarely find cases of young people who find themselves in trouble with drugs that have not experimented with alcohol first.”

Wine is the favourite alcoholic drink in people’s homes (80 per cent), followed by spirits (70 per cent) and then beer / lager / cider (65 per cent). Among the younger cohort however, beer /lager /cider comes through more prevalently.

The Aislinn Centre is the only drug-free residential centre in the State providing residential treatment for young people who are dependent on alcohol and/ or drugs aged between 15 and 21.
The Centre provides a 42-day residential programme supported by a two-year after care programme which consists of two-hour weekly meetings. The Centre has an open referral policy and is based in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny.