hey, i have been following the battlefront series carefully as i believe alot of the issues relate to me and my own personal experiences. Al...
scarlet, 21 May 2009 00:50
Im way out of your age range but have a problem with my daughters binge drinking - she does this to cover many other abuses and I do underst...
Maggie Wright, 18 May 2009 12:31
India Harvey London
‘It’s not about wasting the best years of your life at the bottom of a vodka bottle.’
Like many young people today, I started drinking around the age of 13. It seemed like the only fun thing to do on weekends. But then I started to see things going badly wrong… With my campaign I want to change the idea that drinking is the only way to socialise and have fun. I still drink alcohol sometimes myself, and I don’t want to come across like a strict parent, but I do want to show that there’s more to life than sitting in the park drinking vodka.
- Talking to the Home Office about why teenagers binge-drink
- Meeting my mentor, Andy Powell
- Vox-popping young people about why they binge-drink
- Do you know a venue that might put on a creative non-alcoholic club night?
- Support my campaign by commenting on my page
- Send me ideas about what makes a good night out for you – without alcohol...
kew?, bebo-posts
"found a little place in Kew that i always go past on the 65 bus- its a cricket club house but would be wicked to hold the first clubnight in. west london needs some spicing up." Bebo20 November 2008
junction49, bebo-posts
"today i applied for some funding from a campaign website for students called junction 49, its a really amazing resource for students from different Unis to post their ideas and share thaughts and get coverage and help from other students, g..." Bebo20 November 2008
plain janes , bebo-posts
"My friend Bosola runs an amazing monthly arts culture club night called Plain Janes at 93 Feet East in East London. The night brings together all types of artists-from poetry and spoken word to dance, art installation and animations shown o..." Bebo25 October 2008
meeting my mentor, bebo-posts
"Last week I met my battlefront mentor, CEO of Edge- Andy Powell. Edge is this amazing organisation that encourages young people to get into careers and get on with their lives with or without things like GCSEs and A Levels; Vocational and P..." Bebo20 October 2008
well well well, bebo-posts
"the past week has been very very busy and this is all getting very exciting. On Wednesday, I met up with our lovely producer Jo to attend a VCCP and Home Office meeting on the problem of tackling teenage drinking. VCCP? Home Office? Don't w..." Bebo13 October 2008
You can show which issues you think are most important by promoting this campaign on your blog, Myspace, Facebook or Bebo.
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i think this campaign is simply wonderful...i live in orkney (the island above the top of scotland) and we have a huge binge drinking problem with teens and young adults alike..i am part of a groupwhere we hold music events that are completely alchohol free and the events go down a storm and it really makes the younk folk that turn up relise that they dont have to get absolutely wasted just to have a good time..I fully support your campaign..all the best
kat mack, 21 May 2009 23:49
Hey...I work for TimeBank (who do the Junction49 stuff) and saw your campaign, then realised I totally met you at JFK airport! Huh. Good luck with getting funding etc, get in touch if you'd like any insider advice.
Laura, 19 May 2009 23:09
Well if your not behond the Soldiers feel free to stand infront of them!!! it is a fact that the Kids that come through the ACF who have committed crimes in the past that 80% do not recommit a crime so your not telling me its a bad thing!? PAH chuffing HIPPIES!
Ricky, 18 May 2009 11:06
well sunrise sounds nice but im not all that into encoruraging kids into the Army Cadet Force because theres nothing else to do. im not all that into the army in any shape or form whatsoever actually...but i dont want to insult your art. im just more into the whole freedom/peace/love/liberal thinking aspect of life. i blame my parents. at the end of the day im not running this campaign anymore so i really don't have the energy. good luck with uniforming the kids soldier.
india, 14 May 2009 23:35
India, As it happens I am a member of the Army Cadet Force myself, although now I am an Adult Instructor but I joined the ACF at the age of 13 so in responce the question you very quickly assumed the answer to I have been a member of a youth group for quite some time and am now returnign the favour by helping young adults to develop into civilised adults. Also due to me been in the ACF I see the sunrise far too often and I am very active and so are my Cadets, we often do Expecitions and adventurous training. Their are lots of things out there for these kids it is just down to Schools, parents and of course the organisations to recruit and publisise them all the more to get them in and off the streets.
Ricky, 13 May 2009 23:40
hi ricky, thanks for the comment. i totally get where your coming from. i drink too, i would say i drink reliatively quite a lot (not as much as i did, but i'm still part of an over-drinking demographic.) so i wasnt coming from this in the angle you think i am. problem is with people like you is being blind to the needs of young people. most kids haven't been brought up in the way they were 20, 30 years ago, with the drive and initiative to go out and find their own fun and create their own experiences, as for the youth clubs you mentioned, how many did YOU go to/want to go to at 15 years old? yeah, thaught so. teenagers are cooped up in classrooms for 8 hours a day, five days a week and then are programmed by the mainstream media to go straight home and watch television and check facebook... the current youth generation are moulded to become the facilitators of massive corporations and their profits by being bored into submission and drinking to adhere to a social stereotype. i am actually no longer running with this campaign due to the fact that i am caught in the conflict of wanting young people to have the freedom to do whatever they want and to experience anything and everything. I don't agree with banning anything. problem is, i just think that the level of drinking nowadays and the crutch it is for socialising and making friends with other teenagers is blinding the generation of tomorrow to a wealth of oppertunities and experiences that (as you said) are out there! when was the last time you saw sunrise in the countryside or painted something or cycled to brighton or learned a new skill or read a book in one day or went to a new gallery or...you know. whatever. i am continuing this campaign in other manifestations in my life, i have a facebook group for alerting people as to whats on (and free) in london, i also help run peer-led courses for 15-23 year olds at the tate with an amazing team of like-minded people and am looking into setting up an art club in west london over the summer. if anyone wants to know more, the facebook address is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132947875393&ref=ts peace out. india
india, 13 May 2009 23:01
I am 21 and I go out drinkign every weekend, yes I binge drink, and when I go out I drink a lot BUT I do not think you should be campaigning to stop binge drinking! this is a supposed to be a free Country and thus we should be allowed to do what we want! if I want to go out drinking then I should be allowed, and if I want to drink alot then I should be allowed to without feeling that I am doing something wrong! I do not become agressive when I am drunk and do not disgrace myself! I go out to have fun and socialize. I find it insulting that you are campaigning to stop our fun! AND if teenagers who are under 18 cannot find anything more productive to do than drink then that is their fault! their is plenty for them to do regardless of what people say! their are so many Youth Groups out there and to name a few their is the ACF, ATC, SCC and Scouts so dont tell me their is nothing for them to do because their is! I do NOT support your campaign in the slightest! I drank at 13 and I am not a "yob", "thug" or criminal and find it insulting that you have basically insulted the entire youth of today by tarring them all with the same brush!
Ricky, 13 May 2009 12:04
Hi India, I'm 40 but have been through the wasted binge drinking cycle in my teens and twenties. I went through a teenage drinking cycle when ID was not so thorough before university. At university I didn't drink much, there were many different types of people there and although much of the social activity revolved around drink I didn't participate much in the demon drinking. Afterward university the mainsocial outlets in the small town I ended up in involved drinking and I got sucked into them never really liking them. I think binge drinking among lads can be a macho thing and some people get power over others because they have higher tolerance and can manipulate the group into drinking more. This issue needs to be explored and explained more than when I was a teenager!! There needs to be sexy, funky alternatives to drinking and drink activities (eg: clubbing). More exciting alternatives, would attract people away from drink and this is the only way i think you will make progress. I dance salsa and love it but think maybe the current age range of salsa dancers is not fantastically appealing to teens and early twenties. I do think however its much more exciting than getting drunk at a club, afterall you get to dance with many members of the opposite sex !!! The major issue with salsa is finding venues, bars and clubs make money on drinks and salsa dancers do not drink. Anyway hope this helps your quest. My main opinion is that "Exciting Alternatives" to drinking needs to be found. Please feel free to write to me if you to discuss or evolve and ideas, or you need some "salsa" related contacts etc. Andy
Andy Southall, 13 May 2009 11:58
Hi India, i think your doing a great campaign, i work for my local council as a youth worker and i have to work with young people who drink alot, part of my job is to try and offer them activities, and a positive outlook on life and show them there is more to drink and supprt them. i would love to help you with your campaign, i can be contacted on [email protected]
Tony randall, 31 March 2009 16:39
I think what you are doing is so fantastic, when I started secondary school we used to get talks about issues like this that lasted maybe an hour but no more and were given by our teachers which actually as a young teenager I don't think anyone listened to. However I wish I had, I have just turned 19 and i'm an alcoholic and I wish that younger people could see the devastation it causes, to yourself, to your family, everyone. I hope so much that now the point will get across and support will be put in place if we do take the wrong paths because even now as a teenager it is very hard to admit you need help and even harder to seek it out if you can admit that you might need it.
Kirsty, 08 December 2008 14:28
great discussions happening on the site. hope this will reinvigorate the campaign! can you call or email me soon, India? thanks, Jo
Jo, 07 December 2008 20:19
chloe this is exactly the question i am trying to answer, and i think Mike is also following the right tracks. we need to understand the modern day concept of fun and adapt available social activities to that...
india, 06 December 2008 16:18
I feel pretty strongly about this as a 25 year old recovering alcoholic. I never found anything more exiting than getting drunk on a weekend when I was younger, which is quite sad looking back. Attitudes towards alcohol need to change before more young people end up having to suffer due to alcohol mis-use. I was trying to make plans for the evening with my housemate last night who is aware of my inability to drink. We finally agreed that the only social activity he enjoyed was drinking. I offered to accompany him to the pub but not drink. He said he couldn't think of anything less appealing for either of us. It's sad that a lot of people like us have forgotten how to have fun without alcohol but it's just something we've been doing since we were young. It gets harder to change your ways the older you get. Good work.
Mike, 05 December 2008 18:19
Sorry but i didnt really follow your campaign its tittled Anti Binge Drinking but you just went on about youth activities. You say people have no choice its how we are brought up but, I dont see this there are lots of things available for youths today. Scouting is one of the best ones I know of. Perhaps your campaign should be renamed to something more fitting if your focusing on youth social activities and not anti binge drinking.
Ash, 05 December 2008 08:15
one question why do we as young eople feel the need to get off our faces is life really that bad or is there another reason
chloe, 04 December 2008 14:34
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