31 July, https://childreninscotland.org.uk/
From phasing out alcohol advertising at sporting events, to reducing how often alcohol is promoted on TV and online, David Mackay, Policy Manager at Children in Scotland, discusses children and young people’s approach to improving Scotland’s relationship with alcohol.
The public consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion launched by the Scottish Government in November 2022 was broad in scope, seeking to explore various options for restricting the marketing and promotion of alcohol in Scotland.
The consultation cited evidence that highlighted links between alcohol marketing and children and young people’s drinking behaviours. It also underlined the negative impact of alcohol marketing for adults in recovery.
Recognising that children and young people’s voices were an important part of this discussion, the Scottish Government commissioned Children in Scotland to support children and young people to engage with the consultation. Today, we are delighted to be publishing our report on this engagement activity.
We engaged with 113 children and young people from all over Scotland during the course of our work.Some took part in a five-week focus group and other schools and community groups completed activities from our engagement pack.
The work we undertook was not without its challenges. When we began, we received some negative comments questioning why we were talking to children and young people about this topic. Children in Scotland’s answer was simple – why wouldn’t we talk to them?
Although alcohol marketing and attitudes towards alcohol are often perceived as adult topics, our engagement work – and previous projects undertaken by the Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament – has shown how omnipresent alcohol and alcohol marketing is in our society. The children and young people we spoke to identified the different places they had seen alcohol advertisements or promotions: from local shops and supermarkets to public posters and billboards; from television sponsorship to sports events to online posts. Children and young people are seeing alcohol adverts in their homes, on their way to school and during their leisure activities like going to the cinema. It’s their right to share their views about this important topic.
We engaged with 113 children and young people from all over Scotland during the course of our work.Some took part in a five-week focus group and other schools and community groups completed activities from our engagement pack.