Line up in front of the supermarket to buy cans of beer or bottles of vodka early in the morning, before the supermarket even opens. Sitting at the tables of the bars in the company of a glass of spritz in full class hours. And then the aggression that is unleashed in the squares of Treviso during the weekend, with what are called “baby gangs” even if the members are no longer children but adolescents. Juvenile distress is intertwined with alcohol consumption and risks becoming an explosive mix of violence that requires, in addition to deterrence, preventive interventions to be developed with young people and their families.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE CEIS
“The pandemic is not an excuse, but in these two and a half years the ways of consuming alcohol have changed. The goal of many young people is “binge drinking”, that is the alcoholic binge away from meals “underlines Luca Sartorato, president of the Ceis social cooperative in Treviso (which boasts a developed addiction area), recalling the data on the increase in alcohol and super alcohol among the very young. Compared to 2019, the National Alcohol Observatory of the Higher Institute of Health found an increase in access to the emergency room for hangover of 18% in boys and 25% in girls, so much so that episodes of drunkenness between 16 and 17-year-olds are catching up with those of the population aged 65 and over. In the meantime, the age of first consumption has dropped to 13 years.
“What leads young people to choose alcohol is the effectiveness of the substance as a” lubricant “in relationships because it loses inhibitions and decreases the perception of risk” underlines the president Sartorato “in doing so the consumer links the moments of euphoria to the glasses and drinking. The organism, however, to achieve the same pleasure will require higher quantities with ever greater damage to physical and cognitive health ». Last but not least, alcohol is still the leading cause of direct or indirect death among young people aged between 15 and 24 who are victims of road accidents, and the North East in this sense is one of the areas most exposed to alcohol intake at an early age.
PERCEPTION OF RISK
Despite the dangers, the perception of the risks associated with alcohol consumption is very low among adolescents. The Ceis of Treviso, together with the Zanetti Foundation, launched a survey within the schools of the Marca, interviewing third-grade students. The numbers that have emerged are alarming. “As many as 86% of the thirteen-year-olds involved do not include alcohol among the psycho-altering substances and 94% of young people are unaware of the harmful effects of alcohol.” An amazing figure, if we consider the wide access to information that the new generations have compared to their predecessors. Much remains to be done on the prevention front. “The focus of prevention is the involvement of young people and the empowerment of their families” continues the number one of the CEIS.
THE GEA PROJECT
The initiatives carried out by the association in the field of combating addiction in adolescence go in this direction through the project Effective Parents in Adolescence (Gea) which proposed eight cycles of ten meetings of two hours each, involving 156 families with a presence of 80% of the initial members. “Families were actively involved in experimenting with relational strategies and satisfaction questionnaires revealed a high degree of satisfaction” concludes Sartorato “what we have learned working for forty years in addictions is that behind an addiction there is often an unexpressed emotional need or not dealt with which requires adequate and competent taking charge “.