Mentor Scotland’s two-year Peer Education Alcohol project proved that peer education is an effective way of changing young people’s attitudes to alcohol.
I try to avoid my friends if they are going out to get drunk, but sometimes I might give them advice before they get drunk about making sure that they are safe, staying together and not drinking in any dodgy places.
The project, funded by Comic Relief, showed that a peer education session was able to change one third of young people’s attitudes to alcohol. Mentor Scotland was also overwhelmed by requests from youth workers who want to set up peer education in their agencies and projects.
The Peer Alcohol Education Project was delivered across Scotland to young people at serious risk of alcohol misuse. 12 young people aged 14 – 16 years were recruited to become peer educators. Over a series of leisure activities and residential weekends, they devised an alcohol education programme focusing on the effects on mind and body.
The programme was then delivered to 208 young people at serious risk of alcohol misuse across 18 different areas in Scotland. A further one day programme was created for practitioners working with young people at serious risk of alcohol misuse. It provides practical information on developing alcohol-based peer education and activities to engage young people around alcohol issues.
Peer education uses pre-established channels of communication and requires young people to develop their own resources and training. Involving young people this way aligns with the Scottish Government’s Curriculum for Excellence directive.
Mentor Scotland is now seeking partners to continue this work and to help develop a sustainable delivery model linking with youth information points in schools.
Download the full report Peer Ed Alcohol Project 2011.
For more information on this project email admin-scotland@mentoruk.org