Organised activity for young people, and time with their parents, does more to stop youth drinking than any campaign. And reducing alcohol abuse changes a society.

What Iceland actually did

One of the factors credited with Iceland’s football success between 2016 and 2018 was its programme of indoor football centres. Those centres were not built to produce a national team. They were built as after-school sport to counter a teenage drinking problem.

Alongside them: curfews for under-16s, and surveys of young people — listening to them rather than telling them.

The football was a by-product. That is the lesson.

Planned, evidence-based, and sometimes unpopular

Improving a society comes through planned, evidence-based, proactive and bold action — and some of it will not be popular.

• Far too much NSFAS cash allowance is being spent on gambling and alcohol. The straightforward answer is ring-fencing it to food, accommodation, books and the like. Are we willing to do the unpopular thing?
• Ban all alcohol on school premises — which BELA currently permits.
• Strict control of alcohol and gambling sponsorship and advertising, especially online and around sport.

How Iceland Saved Its Teenagers — BBC.

Related

Alcohol Harm Reduction — What Iceland Did · Why South Africa Needs to Ban Alcohol in Education Spaces · Shifting Focus From Consequences to Prevention

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of a better future for our youth.