DRINK & DRUGS NEWS :: Q&A

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Question:

I'm a project worker and want to hold an event for young people on drug safety. I'd like to do something different that doesn't involve a lecture - does anyone have any fresh ideas for engaging not preaching? And does anyone have any tips on funding..? (Rob, community project worker, Lancashire)

Your replies...

Dear Rob

This was an idea that we had for alcohol safety that might give you some ideas on engaging without preaching. We've found it to be hugely successful in capturing kids' interest and educating them before they even know that they're being taught a serious alcohol safety message. Think B4U Drink is our educational board game about alcohol, but it's more than just Snakes and Ladders, it's a virtual drinking experience with activity, drama, tension, emotion and competition thrown in. The game is best played with 13-16 year olds, but it has something to offer for older teens and adults too.

We have trained about 200 staff from high schools, community learning and voluntary organisations in Grampian to be Think B4U Drink Gamesmasters. The game is now two years old, and has recently been improved after evaluation. What teens say about Think B4U Drink is how much fun you have playing, how real it is, and how much it gets you thinking.

It is fascinating when people get into character and get into the reality of drinking in the play park, by the river, at a hotel function, or at their mate's house. Teens often play as themselves, are very knowledgeable, and challenge each other mercilessly. They are more than happy to furnish you with tales of 'the time I went to throw up and the bog lid was down', but they can also get really competitive about getting the facts right, and they remember them.

When you're playing Think B4U Drink with young people, they don't want to hang around. They plan their night quickly, then they can't wait to pick up drink, get on with virtual drinking and get to the consequences! Designing the game we felt that it was important to have some planning involved. After all, if they were planning their night out for real, they'd be thinking about what money they had, where they could pick up alcohol etc. (Never mind the three hours in the bathroom). So we spend five minutes or so planning this in teams and sharing it with the group.

Out on the streets on their way out, the atmosphere is sometimes controlled, and sometimes loaded. We suggest people take a reasonable amount of money, but they can be really creative with it. There is more risk here, with 'Chance' cards, that crucial element of risk - there is no guarantee that in reality you will be able to pick up alcohol from somewhere if you're 13, so in the game it's all in the way you 'spin the bottle' (like throwing a dice). You could land up with more money, or a free take away, finding drugs, or doing a dance and singing in front of your mates.

Once the drinks are in (or not), the teams hurtle (like in a trolley dash in Boozebusters), to their location for the night where they can start their virtual drinking, answering drinking questions on the way. This part is where the skill of the Gamesmaster comes into its own, encouraging, pressurising, bribing or bullying teams (depending on your style) into getting their luvvie hats on and doing a 'Gielgud gets drunk and climbs a tree', or 'Olivier and his mates have a few too many and try to make chips'. The messages are serious though - what would you do if your mate had an accident and you were really drunk, as compared to tipsy? How would you feel if your drunken mates smashed up the playpark where your little brother played? How would you react if someone spilled your drink or knocked you when you were pissed? Where would your reaction get you?

On the way home again, there are more hazards, pitfalls and diversions to nudge players into thinking about what might happen, depending on how much they've had to drink. Losing keys, snogging someone else and your boy or girlfriend sees, getting stopped by the police, going to the chippy etc. To finish we all chip in (pun intended!), look at how the night went, and talk about what we might do differently next time.

We have had loads of calls from other areas about Think B4U Drink. We now have 1500 games available to sell sitting in storage in Aberdeen, and we will be able to support new areas with Gamesmaster training sessions. The Scottish Executive are very positive about Think B4U Drink (the Substance Misuse Division have played it - I'd have loved to run that session!), but they can't commit any funding yet. If any kindly benefactors are reading we are looking for sponsorship so we can get the game marketed properly and have a full time contact person for training and development. We are offering an attractive package with co-branding on the game, packaging, website, advertising and PR. What's next? Lots more fun developing the Big Think B4U Drink Game, the street and online games and the UK version!

Sarah Dalgarno, Grampian Think B4U Drink Committee - For interest in the game, contact sarah.dalgarno@nhs.net

Dear Rob

I would recommend a Theatre in Education piece, a small play written specifically to engage your Young people which includes a workshop afterwards that asks them to interview the characters and ask why they did what they did.

Also try a mock court case, which gradually reveals a more complex case that gradually changes the young people's minds on who's guilty of what - ie, initially it seems its a cut and dried case of GUILTY. (You can incorporate motivated by bullying or whatever.) This way they get some awareness of the issue and education on how courts go on. You may like to ask a friendly local magistrate to help you do this.

Also you could try telephoning or writing to your local Drug and Alcohol Action Team and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership to ask about bidding into their various pots of money.

Good luck!

Nina Dauban, Manager of Hettys & WAM

Dear Rob

I work as a volunteer for CRI at the St. Thomas Fund Residents Care Home in Brighton.

If you want to engage the young people of your community without preaching or lecturing, I recommend having a party. You could hire out a school hall for instance. Set out a dancefloor, and around the sides set up a long bar where you might serve fresh fruit mixes, ice crushes, pick your own fruits and blend etc.

As your bartenders, you could have 6-7 knowledgeable people each representing a different drug, indicated by a poster or banner behind them. The youngsters could then go along the bar, getting drinks and eats, while asking questions and chatting about the different drugs and their dangers in a very informal way. Having learned chunks of info from talking to the bartenders they could then discuss, gossip, and swap info amongst themselves.
There is another benefit to this: I remember a weekend when the residents at St. Thomas Fund went to a party at an NA meeting. They all had a great time and it was like a revelation to them that they could actually have a such fun dancing and partying without Drugs or Alcohol! It was such a boost.
If your young people can learn that you don't need Drugs or Alchohol in order to boogy-on-down and have a cracking party, that might be as valuable as the knowledge they might gain in the process.

As to funding, this option might be cheap, and any school, college, or Uni you ask should have the sense to go for it.

With respect

Mike Richardson, CRI, Brighton

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