Parents in dock over underage drinking
(From The Orcadian dated December 13, 2001)

It is only a matter of time before teenage drinking in Orkney will claim another victim, according to two local GPs.

The warning – from Hoy practitioners Dr Tony Trickett and Dr Paul Kettle – came this week after a teenager collapsed, dangerously ill, in toilets at a Longhope dance on Saturday – shocking local residents.

A number of youngsters had travelled to the dance from the Mainland, carrying alcohol, the doctors say.

However, teenagers have not been singled out for blame. Parents – and Orkney society as a whole – must also shoulder much of the blame, and must pull together to tackle the issue of uncontrolled underage drinking, it was stated this week.

Parents, in particular, have been criticised for providing their offspring with alcohol before dances, in the misguided belief that they can control what, and how much, their children are drinking. Parental ignorance of the strength of popular so-called “alcopops” has also been highlighted – a small bottle of innocent-tasting, fruity drink is equivalent to a pint and a half of lager.

This week, Hoy doctors, Paul Kettle and Tony Trickett, wrote to The Orcadian expressing serious concerns about the level of alcohol abuse among young Orcadians, and citing a recent incident at a Harvest Home on the island.

In their letter, they vividly describe the scene which met their eyes at the dance on December 8: “A young teenager, deeply unconscious, hardly breathing, cold, soaking wet and covered in their own vomit, lying on a toilet floor that is littered with the shattered remains of a bottle of vodka.”

Dr Trickett told The Orcadian that he didn’t want to blame the children, just show how things had happened.

“I’m afraid it’s nasty and sordid,” he said.

He added that he was particularly concerned about the use of strong spirits: “In the old days kids would go out and get a fill of beer and just spew. But these days, they’re getting hold of stuff like vodka – and drinking such a lot that, before they know it, they have taken a lethal dose and fall unconscious.”

He added that the number of cases seen by medical workers was only the tip of the iceberg: “A lot of kids will get out of their brains and go and lie at a friend’s house till they feel better.”

By no means is Mr Trickett against children taking moderate amounts of alcohol: “I feel very strongly that it’s a good thing that teenagers are introduced to drink at home under the control of an adult. There is nothing wrong with a glass of wine or beer with a meal.”

But, he added, the children who came to Longhope for the dance, did so, with clanking bags full of alcohol.

“Somebody was getting this stuff for them. There’s no way kids that age are going into local stores and buying it,” he said.

The Longhope hall, he added, has a strict policy of not serving under 18s with alcohol.

As far as tackling the problem is concerned, he said, local teenagers themselves need to get involved, alongside the whole community.

“I want people to read this and feel sick. As adults, we look the other way, or set a bad example. I would like to see zero tolerance. We’ve all got to come together – it’s not just the police, it’s up to parents and the community to pull together.”

He added that there was to be a meeting in Hoy of all interested parties to look at the future running of dances in the island, and the provision of strict stewarding.

Community police officer, Mr Jim Mollison, who, in an article in this week’s The Orcadian, also highlights the use and abuse of alcohol among young people, said that parents were often unwittingly contributing to the problem.

He explained: “Parents provide alcohol on the assumption that that is all they are going to drink. There’s also an ignorance among parents about how strong some of these drinks are.”

He gave a number of examples of alcopops which are very popular with teenagers as they are pleasant tasting and easy to drink.

“One bottle of that stuff contains a nip and a half – equivalent to one and a half pints of normal lager. It tastes nice to young people so they consume it easily. They keep on drinking and there is a delay – then it knocks them for six in an hour or so, when they start dancing or go out into the fresh air.”

He added that there were very serious concerns: “Children of 13, 14 or 15 are too young to drink to that degree. It’s only a matter of time before there is a serious incident.”

He warned that on top of the risk associated with alcohol poisoning, children could become confused or disorientated and wander off, fall in a ditch, and succumb to hypothermia.

He outlined measures the police intend to take over the festive season to tackle the damage done by teenage drinking, including regular patrols of the town centre and hall dances.

Any young people found with alcohol, he explained, will have it confiscated, and may be referred to the Children’s Reporter. There will be an investigation into how and where the alcohol was obtained, possibly leading to prosecution, and the parents of the miscreant will receive a visit from the police.

Acknowledging that the police could not completely prevent underage drinking, he added: “If we can make parents think about handing drink across to siblings before a dance, then that would be something.”

As far as the incident in Longhope is concerned, he explained that there was no police officer stationed in Hoy these days, but a Stromness-based officer served the island community. As there had been no incidents of this nature in Longhope to date, there was no police presence on the island on the night in question.

Chairman of Orkney Licensing Board, Mr Roderick McLeod, agreed with PC Mollison, that parents have an important part to play: “It is my opinion that the source of most of the drink used by young people is parents, because they feel under pressure from their children. If a lot of parents talked to others, they would find out that they (the other parent) are also concerned.

“It’s not helped by the fact that a lot of parents have no idea of the sort of alcohol content of the type of drinks they are using.”

He added that he did not believe that local licensees were knowingly selling alcohol to young people underage – more that parents were buying alcohol for domestic use and then allowing their children to take it out to social events. This he though was probably quite legal.

“That’s not a Licensing Board issue, it’s a social one,” he added. “One of the ways it should be tackled is by communication with parents.”

gillian.wylie@orcadian.co.uk