alcohol focus scotland’s alcohol truth pilot project ... · 3 introduction this evaluation is of...
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Alcohol Focus Scotland’s Alcohol Truth Pilot Project January – April 2015 Independent Evaluation
Dr Margaret Petrie
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Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3
The Context ................................................................................................................ 3
Method of Evaluation.................................................................................................. 3
School based programmes aiming to prevent alcohol harm – a literature review ...... 4
Addressing risk and resilience ................................................................................ 4
The target audience ................................................................................................ 5
Resisting social pressure to drink alcohol – behaviour modification or critical
thinking? ................................................................................................................. 5
Challenging Normative Assumptions ...................................................................... 7
Style of Programme Delivery .................................................................................. 7
Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 7
The Alcohol Truth Project ........................................................................................... 9
Aims and Approach ................................................................................................ 9
The Target Participants .......................................................................................... 9
The Facilitators ..................................................................................................... 10
The Style of Delivery ............................................................................................. 10
The Teaching Space ............................................................................................. 11
The Content of the Programme ............................................................................ 11
Session One ..................................................................................................... 11
Session Two ......................................................................................................... 12
Session Three ...................................................................................................... 12
Session Four ........................................................................................................ 13
Session Five ......................................................................................................... 13
Session Six ........................................................................................................... 13
Session Seven ...................................................................................................... 14
Sessions Eight and Nine ....................................................................................... 14
Session Ten and a Call Back session ................................................................... 14
Evaluating the Alcohol Truth Project – Key Themes ................................................ 15
Addressing risk and resilience .............................................................................. 15
Resisting social pressure to drink alcohol ............................................................. 15
Challenging Normative Assumptions .................................................................... 17
Style of Programme Delivery ................................................................................ 18
Conclusion and Recommendations .......................................................................... 19
References ............................................................................................................... 21
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Introduction This evaluation is of the second stage pilot of the Alcohol Truth Project which aims to
critically explore with young people both the meaning of alcohol harm, and the
marketing strategies used to promote alcohol consumption. This project is an
element of Alcohol Focus Scotland’s overall strategy which aims to reduce the harm
caused by alcohol in Scotland.
The aim of the evaluation is:
To systematically investigate the merits or worth of this educational
intervention: - How well does this programme work in fulfilling its aims?
To provide (if findings allow) credible evidence of the merits of the programme
To enhance knowledge and future decision making about the development of
the programme
The Context This second stage pilot was a development of a pre-pilot undertaken in a Penicuik
secondary school with S3 pupils aged 13 to 14 years. This pilot took place in an
Edinburgh High school with fourth year pupils aged 15 to 16 years. The school is a
small central Edinburgh school of around 400 pupils of mixed ethnicity, which
accommodates some pupils from other areas assessed as having high support
needs. It is a community school with a tradition of offering extra-curricular provision
to young people and a range of adult education classes. The school’s guidance
department was very supportive of this initiative, helping to advertise the course,
facilitating pupils’ voluntary participation in the project and ensuring parents were
informed.
Method of Evaluation This evaluation is based on:
1. A literature review of the available evidence on relevant educational intervention
programmes to provide a benchmark for assessing the efficacy of this particular
programme.
2. An interview with the guidance teacher to get an indication of previous exposure
to educational input on alcohol harm and media literacy
3. A review of the baseline questionnaire distributed, completed and returned on the
first and last sessions. Also assessing young people’s on course perceptions via
analysis of weekly evaluations gathered by facilitators.
4. Observation of session 2 in January, session 6 in February, sessions 9 and 10 in
March and the call back session in April.
5. An initial group discussion with participants in session 2, to assess knowledge
and understanding to date; informal discussions with participants during observed
sessions and individual interviews with a sample of 8 participants (4 boys and 4
girls) towards the end of the course.
6. An interview with facilitators
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School based programmes aiming to prevent
alcohol harm – a literature review
Griffin and Botvin (2014) argue that more research is needed to facilitate wide
dissemination of effective prevention programmes in schools, families and
communities. Although there is a proliferation of prevention initiatives the efficacy of
school based educational programmes continue to be the subject of debate with few
studies able to evidence behavioural change in the long term (Giesbrecht 2007,
Foxcroft 2006). Positive results tend to rely on self-reporting evidence of an increase
in knowledge and attitude change although it argued that adolescent self-reporting
has been proved to be accurate (Lemstra et al 2010).
It is generally accepted that didactic information-giving fear-appeal programmes do
not work and can be riskily counter- productive (Levine 2014). Many theorists now
advocate interactive educational programmes based on a social influences approach
which attempt to give young people the confidence and skills to resist social
pressure to consume alcohol.
Botvin and Griffin (2007:613), for example, suggest that:
Effective Drug Prevention Programmes: 1. Are guided by a comprehensive
theoretical framework that addresses multiple risk and protective factors 2.
Provide developmentally appropriate information relevant to the target group
and the important life transitions they face; 3. Include material to help young
people recognise and resist pressures to engage in drug use; 4. Include
comprehensive personal and social skills training to build resilience and help
participants navigate developmental tasks 5. Provide accurate information
regarding rates of drug use to reduce the perception that it is common and
normative 6. Are delivered using interactive methods (e.g. facilitated
discussion, structured small group activities, role playing scenarios) to
stimulate participation and promote the acquisition of skills, 7. Are culturally
sensitive and include relevant language and audio visual content familiar to
the target audience 8. Include adequate dosage to introduce and reinforce the
material, 9. Provide comprehensive interactive training sessions for providers
to generate enthusiasm, increase implementation fidelity and give providers a
chance to learn and practice new instructional techniques
I would like to consider some of the key features of effective programmes that Botvin
and Griffin highlight here, drawing on the work of other theorists.
Addressing risk and resilience The need to address multiple risk and resilience or protective factors is supported by
a range of research papers although they represent different loci of concern. For
example some theorists are primarily concerned to address the risk behaviour of
adolescents by giving them the individual skills to resist social pressure (Griffin and
Botvin 2014, Teeson et al 2012, Vogl et al 2012) whereas others emphasise the
importance of also addressing the risks associated with the social and cultural
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context in which young people are embedded (Levine 2014, Piran 2010, Stigler et al
2011, Giesbrecht 2007).
Levine (2014: 181) for example argues that an understanding of risk and resilience
factors must be informed by a developmental contextual approach which
‘emphasises the dynamic, changing, malleable and non-reductionist relationships
between individuals and the multiple physical and social dimensions of their
ecology.’ This would include family, school, neighbourhood, religious community,
mass media and cultural values. Piran (2010) also argues that prevention often only
targets individuals without assessing changes needed in their social environment.
She argues the need to minimize risk factors and enhance protective factors at the
societal and institutional level. This view is reflected in findings from Florida’s youth
focused Tobacco Pilot Programme which included an ‘edgy’ Truth media campaign
which focused on the behaviour of the tobacco industry and which achieved
unprecedented success in reducing smoking prevalence among students from
middle school (by 40%) and high school (by 18%) in the first two years (Kennedy et
al 2012).
The target audience Programmes targets are defined as universal (targeting all students), selective
(targeting students perceived to be high risk) or indicated (targeting students who are
already using). However Piran (2010) and Giesbrecht (2007) point out that strategies
which aim to alter society’s norms of behaviour have a larger prevention potential. In
this conception whole populations, rather than young people specifically, are the
target audience. Young people can be engaged in educating not just their peers but
the wider public (Kennedy et al 2012).
Resisting social pressure to drink alcohol – behaviour
modification or critical thinking? Griffin & Botvin (2014) argue that adolescents may be unprepared to cope with the
social, intra-personal and cultural forces which promote alcohol use. Botvin and
Griffin(2007) also suggest that enabling young people to recognise and resist social
pressure to consume alcohol is a key element of most positively evaluated
prevention programmes, a view supported by many others (e.g. Lemstra et al 2010,
Vogl et al 2012) The emphasis in relation to tackling social pressure would appear to
vary across programmes however. There are a number of programmes that have
been piloted in the Australian context which have recounted a positive impact on
young people’s self-reported drinking behaviour (Champion et al 2013, Midford et al
2014).The CLIMATE Schools alcohol module, for example, contains three
components - information, a normative component and resistance skills training.
This involves teaching skills to resist alcohol offers in addition to skills to
recognise the contextual risks associated with when, where and with whom
they choose to consume alcohol or other drugs. The aim is to teach young
people to resist such pressures whilst maintaining friendships and social
standing (Vogl et al 2012:412).
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This approach focuses on harm minimisation encouraging young people to drink
safely rather than not at all. While the CLIMATE module acknowledges the media as
a potential source of social pressure, critical media literacy does not appear to be a
key element of this programme. The focus is primarily on modifying the behaviour of
young people. Given that the effect on reducing alcohol harm in the long term is at
best tentative, Giesbrecht (2007:1348) argues that rather than trying to reduce youth
consumption that school based education should focus on:
raising awareness of alcohol policy options, teaching students about the key
players in policy debates and deliberations, indicating the roles that students
and parents can play in influencing local alcohol policies..
These elements reflect the political literacy content that can be intrinsic to citizenship
education and raises the question of why school based prevention programmes are
usually assumed to be addressed as part of Personal Social Education and not parts
of the curriculum that critically consider the political landscape; how policy is made,
social issues are addressed and power is exercised. For Levine (2014) developing
media literacy can be a form of engaging a critical social perspective and Mihailidis
and Thevenin (2013: 1611) see media literacy as a “core competency for engaged
citizenship in a participatory democracy.” A study by Austin et al (2012) found that
students needed media literacy skills to assess the credibility of health related
information as this influenced self- efficacy in health related decision making. In a
rapid review of evidence in relation to alcohol misuse prevention in adolescents
Foxcroft (2006) found that social marketing media based intervention was one of the
most effective. This is supported by the findings from the Florida Tobacco Pilot
Programme which engaged in tobacco industry ‘denormalization’ via the Tobacco
Truth media campaign (Kennedy et al 2012).
Begoray et al (2014) operating programmes in the Canadian context which aim to
teach adolescents to evaluate the purposes and persuasive techniques of
commercial media and its influence on their health, argue that “the out of school
literacies of adolescents need to be used more frequently in school (p269).”
Redmond (2015) points out that although young people may be “digital natives” they
may lack the skills necessary to ‘deeply analyse and evaluate media texts, including
message purpose, slant, bias, production techniques, codes and conventions,
ideologies and effects.” She highlights the importance of inviting students to
contribute, integrating texts from student/popular culture. Begoray et al (2014:271)
support this point advocating that students produce and create visual
representations as this has a critical role in enabling them to deconstruct
manipulative media messages. In addition the danger of students merely becoming
familiar with advertising messages, is avoided. They also point out, however, that
critical media health literacy approaches in schools are still relatively rare.
A key difference noted between programmes aiming to enable young people to resist
social pressures and those encouraging a critical social perspective is that the first
constructs young people as primarily consumers of knowledge and makes them the
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primary target for change. The second recognises young people as producers of
knowledge who can do meaningful things for themselves and others including joining
and leading adults in working for beneficial social changes (Levine 2014, Begoray et
al 2014, Piran 2010, Giesbrecht 2007).
Challenging Normative Assumptions Including accurate information about alcohol consumption is often included in
prevention programmes because research has shown that adolescents tend to
overestimate how much their peers drink or use drugs (Griffin and Botvin 2014). The
problem here, acknowledged by Stigler et al (2011) in relation to the USA but which
could equally apply to Scotland, is that alcohol use in US society is normative
amongst adults and young people. Giesbrecht (2007) points out that it is young
adults and other adults who provide heavy drinking role models for youth. He
questions, therefore, that young people should be the primary target for preventative
alcohol harm strategies.
The lesson from the Florida Tobacco Pilot Programme’s Truth media campaign is
that the normative assumption that a specific drug use, in this case alcohol
consumption, is positive, natural or inevitable can be challenged however (Kennedy
et al 2012).
Style of Programme Delivery A key issue in the delivery of prevention programmes in schools is the inconsistency
of delivery. This is significant when it is known that traditional didactic teaching
approaches can not only be ineffective they may actually encourage risky drinking
behaviour (Levine 2014, Botvin and Griffin 2007).
While there is a consensus that interactive methods are the most effective style of
delivery for prevention programmes in schools, there is also an acknowledgement in
the literature that this may not always be the most familiar or comfortable method for
all teachers. This has led to a lack of fidelity in the delivery of prevention
programmes assessed in trial conditions as effective (Kumar et al (2013). A range of
initiatives in the Australian context use internet programmes for school based
prevention based on social influence theory. This includes the CLIMATE programme
which uses a combination of interactive computer based materials and class based
activities. Internet programmes are perceived to be appealing because they are low
cost, easy to implement in that they do not necessarily involve professionals and the
delivery is therefore consistent (Champion et al 2013). This appears in contradiction
to the points made earlier about the need to ensure young people are active in
producing and creating their own media representations and are given the skills
necessary to deconstruct and critically analyse multi- media texts promoting alcohol
consumption (Begoray et al 2014, Redmond 2015)
Conclusions Implementing preventative intervention during adolescence is perceived as crucial to
prevent the onset of problematic drug use (including alcohol) in the long term (Botvin
and Griffin 2007). The substance of what type of preventative intervention is most
useful continues to be contentious, however. Although there is now widespread
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recognition that social influences play a key role in youth attitudes to alcohol the
primary concern of school based prevention programmes focuses on young people
being enabled to resist these pressures. Engaging young people (alongside policy
makers and the wider public) in considering how they might counteract the social
and cultural practices which promote excessive alcohol consumption are rarely
considered. There are theorists here who argue, however, that young people need
to be seen as producers of knowledge rather than mere consumers. Preventing
alcohol harm, in this model, would involve engaging young people’s critical social
perspective and mobilising their support to promote positive social and cultural
change.
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The Alcohol Truth Project
Aims and Approach Although significantly different (not least in budget and therefore scope) the Alcohol
Truth project took its inspiration from the Florida Tobacco Pilot and its Truth media
campaign (Kennedy et al 2012). The Alcohol Truth Project is informed by an
approach which uses media literacy as a means of engaging young people in a
critical social perspective. Unlike many prevention programmes the primary focus is
not on modifying the behaviour of young people. It seeks to encourage young people
to critically consider the concept of alcohol harm as something which impacts on
whole communities as well as individuals. In addition the goal is to raise young
people’s critical awareness of how they are actively targeted by alcohol industry
marketing through social media and to consider what action they could take in
response. The aims of the project are described as follows:
The Alcohol Truth Project raises young people’s awareness that:
Alcohol is a harmful drug.
Marketing on social media influences their attitudes toward alcohol and seeks to
encourage them to buy and consume alcohol.
The Alcohol Truth Project encourages young people to question:
The role and impact of advertising on social media.
How and why the alcohol industry targets them through social media.
By taking part in the Alcohol Truth Project young people will:
Reflect and develop their own views on the impact of alcohol in their lives and the life
of their community.
Think critically about alcohol marketing and identify action they can take in response.
The Target Participants The young people who participated in the programme were fourth year pupils aged
15/16 years old who opted to take part following advertising via the school’s
guidance department. Given the project was not trying to modify or address the
behaviour of young people the approach was universal targeting all young people in
this year group. The group were a fairly even mix of boys and girls and although
mainly white Scottish included young people from more diverse ethnic origins. As a
group they knew each other well and for some pupils this made a difference to their
experience of the programme.
It’s all my year group I know everyone so it’s comfortable to talk (Jane1)
You feel more comfortable, because you are with people your same age, we are all
friends and we can talk about anything because we know we are not going to be
judged (Carrie)
1 Names of participants have been changed to ensure anonymity
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Facilitators felt this age group engaged more effectively with the material than the
younger age group in the pre-pilot. Several observations of the group demonstrated
to me that participants were relaxed with each other and the facilitators. They were
seen to be actively engaged with activities and participating in animated thoughtful
discussions.
While numbers attending sessions varied from 15 completing the baseline
questionnaire in week 1 to 11 completing the post course questionnaire during the
final session, an average of 13 young people attended most of the ten sessions.
The Facilitators The programme was delivered by experienced facilitators external to the school. One
from an external consultancy and one from within the Alcohol Focus Scotland staff
team, both of whom were involved in devising and developing the programme
alongside AFS staff.
The Style of Delivery The style of delivery was critical to programme efficacy. Young people were treated
with friendly respect and the atmosphere was informal. Facilitators provided tea,
coffee, juice, fruit and snacks to which participants could help themselves on arrival
and during breaks. It was made very clear to the young people early on that this
course was not about telling them what to do but rather to listen to their views, share
knowledge, raise awareness and engage in debate. This was picked up on by the
young people
They are not telling you don’t drink alcohol other groups are trying to preach to you
(Lewis)
To raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol not to tell us not to do it (Layla and
Nina)
I thought it was going to be about how alcohol was bad for you but it has been about
advertising (Juan)
The unthreatening atmosphere created by the facilitators was hugely important to the
young people and repeatedly commented on:
I like the way they bring food in how the seating is different every week it feels
comfortable (Layla and Nina)
You could sit and talk with C and J about anything – feels comfortable (Carrie)
Feel more comfortable talking than I do in class (Jane)
You can say what you want to C and J (Lewis)
I have never have felt weird about talking, I felt comfortable (Juan)
We are not scared to share our experiences of alcohol like we would be in a PSE
class (Layla and Nina)
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The Teaching Space The programme was held in a classroom space on the ground floor of the school
building which was used for drama teaching. The room was laid out informally with
tables pushed together so that everyone could sit together as one group and enough
space so that pupils could move to other parts of the room to work in small groups.
There was a sink, draining board, a worktop, a fridge and room on a wide windowsill
for the kettle to boil and where pupils could access tea, coffee and snacks. Access to
other more traditional classrooms was also made available in particular when access
to the internet was required to show short video clips or when pupils were working on
creative projects in small groups. That pupils felt comfortable in this space was
evidenced by the fact pupils began to come during their break before the group
started to make drinks, eat their snacks and talk informally to the facilitators.
The Content of the Programme The programme consists of 10 structured sessions which aimed to encourage critical
reflection, discussion and exploration of a key theme relevant to the overall aims of
the project. While there are central elements in each of the sessions - a key theme or
focus, core group and individual activities, fact sheets that can be taken home and
discussed with family and tasks that can be reflected or acted on between sessions
– there is room to adapt sessions to the young people participating, the setting and
the resources available.
Following sessions which engage young people in learning about alcohol marketing,
participants are encouraged to take a more pro-actively creative role, devising their
own social media response that uses their learning to raise the critical awareness of
other young people.
It is important to note that as this was a pilot facilitators were developing materials
and session formats, organically to get a sense of what worked and what didn’t. This
is not unusual however in relation to any kind of informal learning where the skill of
the facilitator is in responding to the needs of the participants and the exigencies of
resources and setting.
Session One
This introductory session aims to clarify to the young people that the purpose of the
project is to explore and investigate three things: the role and impact of marketing on
social media; how and why the alcohol industry targets young people through social
media; and alcohol harm. Young people were also given the opportunity at this first
session to register to achieve a Saltire Award for participation in the programme.
Participants were given folders in which to keep fact sheets and information from
each session.
In this session young people fill in a baseline questionnaire which assesses their
knowledge starting the course; engage in agree/disagree debating game on 3
statements – 1. Alcohol is a drug 2. Most people in the world drink alcohol 3. People
in Scotland have always drunk a lot; and develop a map of their digital or online life.
Young people were given fact sheets to take away.
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Evaluations from this session demonstrate that young people’s normative
assumptions were being challenged with 13 out of the 15 young people in
attendance commenting that the key thing they would take away from the session
was new facts about alcohol use (11) and social media use (2). Young people
overwhelmingly indicated that they enjoyed engaging in the activities, the opportunity
to hear others views and the relaxed atmosphere.
Session Two This session used the Rory book developed by AFS for use in primary schools
encouraging young people to read it to each other in twos or threes, then having a
discussion with the group about the concept of alcohol harm. Young people then
were encouraged to work in groups to draw community maps of their area, creating a
key to mark - where you can buy alcohol, where people drink alcohol and where
alcohol does harm.
Observations of this session demonstrated young people’s active engagement and
interest in the activities. Evaluations indicated that most of the young people had
considered the wider issue of alcohol harm for example “How alcohol affects people
at any age” or that “Drink can affect anyone and even people that don’t drink”
Young people again overwhelmingly indicated enjoyment of group activities, practical
tasks and discussion.
Young people were given fact sheets and copies of the Rory book and encouraged
to discuss materials with their families. 15 out of the 17 participating this week
discussed the fact sheets or Rory with parents or siblings. Many commented that
parents had been surprised or shocked by the figures in relation to alcohol harm
demonstrating that young people were engaging in critical thinking and dialogue
beyond the confines of the timetabled programme.
Session Three In this session young people are given a presentation using material from
CHILDWISE on how children and young people access and use the media. They are
then encouraged to develop a product they want to sell to children and young
people. The product must be harmful but they must try to think of a way to market it
to make it a “must have.” Participants are again given a fact sheet and encouraged
to discuss with friends and family.
Evaluations of this session indicate that while most participants were reflecting on
how much they use the internet, some were also beginning to consider how they
were marketed to “How companies specifically target us,” “How marketing can hide
the true meaning – so sly”
Records of discussions with parents and family on fact sheets indicate mixed results
with some expecting the figures about children and young people’s internet use to be
even higher.
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Session Four In this session young people are given a presentation developed by Tayburn
Marketing on how social media marketing works and given information on the
alcohol marketing code of advertising practice. Participants were shown examples of
adverts and encouraged to discuss whether they breached the code of practice.
Again participants are given key facts and encouraged to discuss with family and
friends.
Evaluations demonstrated that all young people had effectively engaged with and
understood the material “How much money is spent on trying to target young
people,” “ The fact that people are specifically targeting me” “I liked watching the
videos and debating whether they breached the guidelines” “I enjoyed watching the
ads because I liked seeing what ads breached the codes”
The focus here is clearly not on young people’s behaviour but on the behaviour of
the alcohol industry and this overwhelmingly has engaged the young people’s
attention and interest with all commenting positively on the session content.
Session Five In this session young people are divided into groups to look at the Ugly Truths which
are described as something “which you need to hear because it is important for you
to know but isn’t what you want to hear, because it is not usually good news.”
Participants are encouraged to discuss the statements and order them in a pyramid
shape according to how ugly they think they are. This session also gives young
people the opportunity to look at how alcohol is marketed through Facebook.
Evaluations of this session indicated that the Ugly Truths had the most impact in this
session with all participants identifying an ugly truth as the key thing they would take
away from this session. Again discussion and group work were key positively
appreciated elements of engaging with topics in the session.
Session Six This observed session started with a return to the Ugly Truths and an opportunity for
participants to facilitate the exercise they had participated in the previous week with
younger pupils from Second Year. The younger pupils were a bit shyer about
participating and while the main participants did take responsibility for the exercise
they had varying degrees of success in fully engaging the younger participants. The
group then watched various social media campaigns promoting messages
highlighting diverse social issues and were given comment sheets which encouraged
them to consider the strategies they used to get their message across.
Observation of young people’s animated response indicated that they really enjoyed
this element of the session and discussion indicated thoughtful reflection on the
content of the ads. Evaluations demonstrated however that young people had
particularly engaged with the content more than the style of the ads, however
responses also indicated that they had thought about how advertising could be used
for diverse purposes “There are lots of people trying to good things via adverts”
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Session Seven In this session participants were encouraged to create a social media marketing
campaign around the ‘harmful product’ they had devised in session three. They also
participated in the Big Alcohol Quiz which encouraged them to revisit things they had
learned about social media use and alcohol harm.
Although evaluations demonstrate that young people enjoyed this session the
facilitators felt that revisiting the “harmful product” that young people had devised in
an earlier session did not really work. It was better “to keep sessions self –contained
rather than revisiting a previous task” (Facilitators Interview April 2015). This content,
then, is likely to be amended for future models. Evaluations also indicate that what
young people primarily took from this session related to the facts discussed in the
quiz.
Sessions Eight and Nine These sessions focused on a creative project. After a review of the work so far, in
session 8 participants (working in small groups) were encouraged to identify an ugly
truth around which they could develop a social media campaign. They were
supported to storyboard their advert and to think about the medium they would use.
In session 9 (which was observed) a technical expert was brought in to assist groups
to develop their product. One group chose to do a poster around the Ugly Truth that
“Drinking as a teenager increases the likelihood of having unprotected sex.” The
other three chose to devise short videos: one illustrating that “75% of young
offenders in prison were drunk at the time of their offence”, another that “Drinking as
a teenager can impact on you later in life” and the third “The alcohol industry spends
over £800 million each year in the UK marketing and promoting alcohol.”
Session evaluations demonstrate that young people particularly enjoyed creating
their own product and learning how to make it happen. A critical element of this was
having the technical support to assist the young people to create an end product of
which they could be proud and that could be effectively shown to other young
people.
Session Ten and a Call Back session In this observed final session participants were able to review the products they had
created which had been edited and compiled for them by the technical expert. They
also revisited the baseline questionnaire and were encouraged to create an
evaluation poster expressing their views about the whole course. Participants were
provided with pizza and ice-cream to celebrate successful completion of the course.
An observed short call back session post Easter holidays gave the participants the
opportunity to see their products on a word press site that would be available to a
wider public and to receive their Saltire Certificates.
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Evaluating the Alcohol Truth Project – Key
Themes
Addressing risk and resilience The school guidance teacher highlighted that alcohol harm was generally taught as
an element of other topics and mainly in Personal, Social Education (PSE) or
Religious and Moral Education (Guidance Teacher Interview January 2015). For
example they used a teaching pack called “Keeping Myself Safe.” Media literacy is
also taught as an element of English and Modern Studies. Pupils have also looked at
smoking adverts and gender in relation to the media in PSE. The Guidance teacher
pointed out that a key theme in media studies is also “being safe.” Pupils also
highlighted a session on “staying safe” and sessions giving factual information on
alcohol where the focus they felt was on them as young people and their safety.
Some had looked at marketing and alcohol in modern studies but had not looked at
young people as a target for marketing. They had considered the manufacture of
alcohol in Chemistry but again not the social context of alcohol consumption. Three
girls had taken part in an ‘Alcolols’ project in collaboration with Queen Margaret
University that was about them investigating fellow teenagers’ opinion on drinking
(Participant focus group January 2015)
Aside from the external Queen Margaret University project the construction of risk in
relation to alcohol interventions in school relates to addressing young people’s “risky”
consumption behaviour so that they can “Keep Myself Safe” as the name of the pack
implies. In contrast the Alcohol Truth Project reflects the perspectives outlined earlier
which locate risk in social practices such as social media advertising which
encourage children and young people to consume alcohol.
This approach can be understood to address young people’s risk of and resilience to
dangerous alcohol consumption supported by data from the Florida Tobacco Pilot
which saw a significant reduction in tobacco consumption following their social media
Truth campaign highlighting the tactics of the Tobacco Industry (Kennedy et al
2012). Critical media literacy is also highlighted by other studies as influencing health
related decision making (Piran 2010, Austin et al 2012)
However this approach could also be understood as mobilising young people to
consider ways to address the risk posed by others in particular social marketing by
the alcohol industry to children and young people, and their flagrant breach of
advertising industry codes of practice.
Resisting social pressure to drink alcohol While the Alcohol Truth Project does not set out to try to change young peoples’
drinking behaviour it does reflect positively evaluated prevention programmes which
try to help young people recognise social pressure to drink. However rather than a
focus on peer pressure suggested by for example the Climate school alcohol module
focus on resisting pressure to consume alcohol “whilst maintaining friendships and
social standing” (Vogl et al 2012:412), this programme seeks instead to raise critical
awareness of the tactics of social marketing and a broader concept of alcohol harm.
The success of these elements is demonstrated in the responses from young people
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during interviews to a question asking them to describe what the course had been
about:
The social harms of alcohol and how alcohol is being marketed through
media, news and newspapers. Showing how alcohol is being put subliminally
in our minds through social media. Now you can concentrate on what people
are advertising – be aware of it (Anil)
I thought it was going to be about alcohol but it is more about social media
and its effects on alcohol advertising – how they market to young people. The
alcohol industry spend 800 million on advertising. Raising awareness about
advertising on social media –if we raise awareness when you’re older you’ll
remember the facts about alcohol and make safer more informed
choices…Made me aware of how the alcohol industry targets people (Craig)
To help us recognise how social media is used, how easy it is to trick us – I
didn’t realise how sneaky it was. I am a lot more aware how they use social
media and how it affects people, how they persuade (Jane)
How the advertising of alcohol misleads people, how it can affect the world –
young people – how companies make so much money selling alcohol…I don’t
drink I came to this with no reason not to drink – this course has given me
reasons not to drink – an answer (Lewis)
The social media – my Mum says it is like my umbilical cord – its good to
know about social media. When you scroll down your Facebook you don’t
really think about the adverts you see. Some adverts are shared by your
friends because they are funny but they are trying to sell you something
(Carrie)
How alcohol is advertised – I thought it was going to be about how alcohol is
bad for you but it has been about advertising. I didn’t know they spent over
800 million – I was really shocked – I didn’t expect it (Juan)
To raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol not to tell us not to do it and
how it is advertised through the media. Alcohol is advertised through social
media – people don’t really notice it but it is there. I have noticed how they try
and target you through social media. You realise that your knowledge of
alcohol is a lot and that you have been advertised to. How social media bends
the rules – I think I will be more aware of advertising and the facts of alcohol
in the future (Layla and Nina)
Similar points were made by young people in the final evaluation poster:
I am more aware of how alcohol harms people
I feel more aware of how advertising is used to influence people
The ugly truths
I feel much more aware and confident to talk about the effects of alcohol
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I feel you are pressured into alcohol more because of my age and there are
more advertisements targeted at people my age
I have realised that the alcohol (industry) influences young people through
their advertising
The baseline questionnaire also indicated an increase by the end of the course more
young people overall agreed or strongly agreed with the statements:
Adverts on social media influence what I want or what I buy
When people post photos, comments tweet about how cool it is to drink
alcohol it puts pressure on young people to drink alcohol too
Alcohol is a drug
Alcohol adverts encourage young people to buy alcohol
We have a problem with alcohol in Scotland
There should be rules that stop alcohol being advertised to young people
My friends need to know about how advertising influences what people feel
and buy
My friends need to know more about the harm alcohol does
In all questions young people were more likely to make a clear statement than they
were at the beginning with none stating “don’t know” to a question by the final
questionnaire. Only in relation to the statement “Alcohol causes harm in the
community” did answers stay fairly static with most agreeing with the statement on
both pre and post questionnaires.
The evident raising of critical awareness of marketing techniques illustrated here by
the young people participating in the Alcohol Truth Programme is supported by
Redmond’s (2015) finding that although young people may be “digital natives” they
do not necessarily have the skills to analyse and evaluate media texts. The
increased critical awareness also supports the Alcohol Truth Project’s strategy of
encouraging young people to produce their own advertising materials and is
supported by theorists who argue that this has a central role in helping young people
deconstruct manipulative media messages (Begoray et al 2014, Levine 2014).
Challenging Normative Assumptions The course activities and fact sheets given to young people, aim to give information
challenging normative misconceptions about the role and impact of marketing on
social media, how and why the alcohol industry targets young people and alcohol
harm.
By encouraging young people to discuss fact sheets with family and friends and
develop media products highlighting key messages from the Ugly Truths, this project
broadens the target audience to adults and the wider community reinforcing an
implicit message that for maximum efficacy prevention strategies cannot only target
young people.
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Style of Programme Delivery As highlighted earlier the style of programme delivery of the Alcohol Truth Project
was an element of the programme repeatedly commented on positively by young
people whose primary complaint about the programme was that it was not long
enough. This may be a fair point in that engagement in the topic could be more fully
developed over a longer delivery period.
The Alcohol Truth Project’s interactive approach has widespread theoretical support
as the most effective means of delivery of educational prevention programmes.
However the success of this approach owes a great deal to not only the skills of the
facilitators but also their clarity about what it is they are trying to achieve and their
approach to work with young people.
A critical element for the young people was that they were not going to be judged
and a key concern about teachers delivering the programme would be teacher’s
perceived desire to control or influence their behaviour. Materials might be delivered
via a conception, as outlined earlier, of keeping young people “safe.” The key
difference in approach then is understanding young people as active participants in
producing knowledge rather than being constructed as passive recipients or mere
consumers of information. This is reflected in comments from young people when
asked what advice they would give teachers delivering a similar programme:
I would tell teachers to do activities rather than just reading and writing
I would get them to do group work because it is fun. If it is a fun lesson you
remember more - remember the facts
It would have to be a guidance teacher – mix it up a bit, it’s good working in
groups – change it every week as it makes it fun. Make some sort of
agreement that you keep it within the class so you feel confident about
sharing your opinion
Stop treating people like they are different – teenagers and adults get treated
so differently. Teachers couldn’t do it – teachers would preach to you.
They need to be not as strict as they are in their normal class – let you work in
the groups you want to – it’s better that you feel comfortable
Don’t just start shoving facts, be a bit easy, try to get our opinions rather than
just delivering loads of information – try to get all the class involved
Teachers would have to go through some sort of training or observe our
sessions to see the way C and J do it, to learn not to shout, to relax a bit.
Here we know our limits – it is just a bit more free than other classes. I think
I’d tell them it is more fun to learn in an unusual way, keeping an open mind,
not being afraid to give your opinion
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Conclusion and Recommendations
The Alcohol Truth Project Pilot Programme represents a relatively small piece of
work with a discrete sample of young people. However the project has the potential
to offer an innovative framework for further development which is distinguishable
from other prevention programmes in several key respects:
It does not identify young people’s potential drinking behaviour as the primary
focus of concern and so does not set out to influence their behaviour
It focuses on addressing the risk created by the influence of the alcohol
industry and their targeting of young people for alcohol marketing, by
developing young people’s critical awareness and media literacy in relation to
this issue and encouraging them to use similar social marketing tools to
develop their own response.
It is informed by the concept of alcohol harm – that alcohol causes significant
harm to people around the drinker – family, friends, colleagues and the wider
community. In this it recognises a target audience for prevention strategies
which extends beyond young people themselves.
Young people participating are constructed as co-producers rather than
passive recipients of knowledge, via their engagement in freely expressing
opinions, discussion, dialogue and the collaborative creative production of
social marketing products.
The findings from this evaluation, not least the comments from the young people
who participated, demonstrate that the project has been particularly successful in
raising participants’ critical awareness of how they are being targeted for alcohol
marketing via social media. The baseline survey, interview data, week by week and
final session evaluations also demonstrate young people’s increased awareness of
the wider impact of alcohol harm.
A particular success of the project has been the effective style of delivery and young
people’s consequent enthusiasm for participation in the project. All young people
interviewed said they would recommend the programme to other young people and
the final evaluation was overwhelmingly positive. This response is not solely
attributable to the skill of the facilitators but also the application of an approach which
as highlighted above respects the contribution of young people and does not frame
their potential behaviour as the problem to be solved.
It is also worth noting however that the 15/16 age range and positive relationships
between the young people in this setting made a difference to how they were able to
participate in the programme’s group work activities. The latter point made, as
illustrated earlier, by the young people themselves.
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It is recommended:
1. That this critical media literacy model of tackling alcohol harm is further
developed in schools and youth work settings (ensuring that the key features
informing the programme remain in place) and is made the subject of further
research
2. That consideration is given to engaging young people in critical media literacy
and alcohol harm in the context of citizenship education – in light of the link
with political literacy e.g. how alcohol policies are established, alcohol
marketing codes of practice are enforced, alcohol industry influences policy
etc.; to mobilise young people’s creative ideas about tackling alcohol harm
and as a further step away from the individual behaviour modification model of
prevention
3. That consideration is given to how the creative production element of the
programme can be adequately resourced to enable the development of a
bank of social marketing materials that aim to combat alcohol industry
marketing - produced by young people and made available online.
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