Looking forward to Halloween? We are too! With more and more people in Ireland exploring sober-curious and mindful drinking, why not try throwing a different type of Halloween party too? A party with less alcohol doesn’t have to be less…
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Guest Blog: Bernardine Ryan shares her experience delivering the Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme
After completing the three-year alcohol education programme in Our Lady’s College, there is a noticeable difference in attitude to alcohol and underage drinking. The facts and figures relating to misuse among teenagers were frightening and sobering, to say the least. The information and resources led to a more…
Guest Blog: Kate Gunn. Parenting as a “normal” drinker
I was a normal drinker. A social drinker. A mid-lane drinker. A grey area drinker. Which is to say I drank like most people in Ireland. I never drank to worrying levels and I never hit rock bottom. When my three children…
‘A year on – How Covid-19 has affected behaviours and attitudes towards Alcohol’
Self-reported increase in weekly and binge drinking and increase in intent to drink less. Read on for key findings on behaviours and attitudes towards alcohol a year on from Covid-19. Key Findings: 55% drinking on a weekly basis versus 52%…
Parenting Teens-A Call to Action
3 minute read. The impact of your relationship with your teen/child lasts a lifetime. The quality of your relationship and connection with your teen is important to their development and the decisions they make. A warm, loving relationship and being…
The crucial role of parents in shaping their children’s attitudes to and use of alcohol
4 minute read. A recurring theme identified in the story of the Maynooth Evaluation of the JC-AEP (and not necessarily something that the research team set out to examine), is that of parents’ and guardians’ role in underage drinking in Ireland. There is a potential role for…
A teacher’s thoughts on the Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme; teacher training and Programme delivery
3 minute read. On a cold, dark November morning in 2018, my colleague and I set off from Waterford at the crack of dawn to drive to Athlone. Our mission: to train in the Drinkaware Education Programme. We are both…
Alcohol Alternatives
4 minute read . We all know that Ireland has a very socially driven drinking culture. For 77% of Irish drinkers, alcohol makes social gatherings more fun at least half of the time (Drinkaware Index Report, 2019). This can make…
Education Focus: Teachers’ experiences of the Drinkaware Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme.
3 minute read. Maynooth University’s longitudinal study of Drinkaware’s Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme (JC AEP) indicates that alcohol education in school can prevent and intervene in underage drinking. The study tracks first to third year students’ experiences of alcohol education in…