DURBAN - Girls and Boys Town South Africa (GBTSA) say it agrees with the call for additional police to be deployed to taverns and shebeens to ensure owners are not selling alcohol to underage customers.
The organisation said it agreed with the call made by the Parliament’s portfolio committee on social development regarding the matter.
Lee Loynes, chief executive of Girls and Boys Town South Africa, says he believes that children’s access to alcohol is not sufficiently monitored and is contributing to increased social disintegration.
“Many people do not realise the impact that underage drinking has on a child or society at large. Parents, adults, and caregivers unintentionally encourage underage drinking through glamourising it or through the practices of sending children to buy alcohol or allowing them to take ‘just a little sip’. Speaking about alcohol has become normal and there has been a desensitisation to its effect which has left our children vulnerable.”
According to a survey done by Aware.Org, 50% of teenagers in South Africa have tried, or consumed alcohol. In South Africa, substance use generally starts during the teenage years and can commence as early as 10-years-old.
Loynes added that consuming alcohol during formative years can lead to health and social problems.
“It can affect the healthy development of vital organs and functions, including the brain, liver, bones and hormones. It is also associated with increased alcohol-related injuries, involvement in violence, suicidal thoughts and attempts, having more sexual partners, pregnancy and using drugs.”
Loynes said that GBTSA helped youth placed in their care to deal with alcohol-related problems.
“At GBTSA a lot of effort is put in to ensure that youth placed by Children’s Courts into healing residential care environments are protected from alcohol abuse through holistic prevention and where needed, individualised treatment programmes so that young people are better equipped to have a responsible approach to alcohol when they leave its care.”
Loynes added that GBTSA had had positive results in dealing with alcohol and drug related issues as their 2021 report showed.
“Eighty three percent of participants were drug and alcohol ‘free’ after the first year out of care. Drug and alcohol ‘free’ is defined as avoiding binge drinking more than once a week, not using dagga/weed more than twice a week, and not using hard drugs in the past month.
“At least some alcohol usage was to be expected of young people who have just left care at 18 – after the first year, 34% reported having had at least one alcoholic beverage in the two weeks prior to the interview, and of those, 18% said they drank more than five drinks in a row (binge drinking).”
Loynes added that more needed to be done to educate the youth about alcohol consumption.
“We need help to tackle this problem. We need homes to be a safe space for kids and for their communities to be protective of them. We need to start the conversation earlier, and encourage every single person to realise that they have a role to play in protecting our children.”
THE MERCURY