Alcohol linked- with youthful violence
I Wellington reporter !. Improved access to alcohol by minors has created . more alcohol-associated problems for younger people, and increasing violence, according to an Auckland probation officer, Mrs J. Pettit. She told a Liquor Industry Council symposium that people with alcoholconnected problems seemed to be getting younger and younger. “One doctor knows of an eight-year-old with drinking problems,” Mrs Pettit said. Increased availability of liquor at sports clubs was of concern, particularly because of the growing , evidence that young people had access to it. Rugby, rugby league, and soccer clubs seemed most culpable.
The 1970 Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council survey of 3000 pupils in Forms 2,4, and 6 had shown that at least 10 per cent of the children in Form 2, 19 per cent in Form 4, and 40 per cent in Form 6 had drunk alcohol in hotels and sports clubs. An Auckland newspaper survey in May 1979, indicated that 90 per cent of Form 6 pupils drank at least a few times a year, and that older pupils favoured drinking associated with parties and sports, she said. Only 5 per cent in the study had never tasted alcohol. Ontario in Canada had lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 in 1971. In 1976, the damage to young people was examined and the age was raised to 19
in 1979, and 20 in 1980. It is expected to be raised again soon, to 21. “A young man on probation who had a fairly serious alcohol problem, which had responded favourably to treatment, wanted to resume coaching in one of the main sports codes,” Mrs Pettit said. “He expressed some concern about this, however, as he was not sure that he could withstand the pressure to drink in the sports club.” A District Court judge, Mr T. Maxwell, had said earlier this year that sport and alcohol had become synonomous to many, and that drinking was associated with manliness.
“I believe this to be true, and drinking is also associated with violence,” Mrs Pettit said.
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Press, 18 April 1980, Page 11
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341Alcohol linked- with youthful violence Press, 18 April 1980, Page 11
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