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Scots Pupils
Smash Alcohol Awareness Thanks To
Touring Educational Theatre Production
On Dangers Of Underage Drinking.
An award-winning educational theatre production on the dangers of underage
drinking has delivered highly encouraging results in transforming young Scots’
attitudes towards alcohol.
A detailed evaluation report by theatre production company Collingwood Learning
on Smashed – Diageo’s international alcohol education theatre programme which
toured Scottish schools for the first time between October and December last
year - has shown a marked increase in the level of alcohol awareness among
secondary school-aged students with 91% of participants now feeling more
equipped to make the right choice about drinking.
Evaluation of Smashed tour offers encouraging results on underage drinking:
- 96% of students less likely to
drink alcohol underage after taking
part in Smashed
- 91% of students now feel
equipped to make right alcohol
choices
- 21% increase in secondary pupils
aware of dangers of underage
drinking
- 18% increase in students
identifying key dangers associated
with underage drinking
Smashed is a hard-hitting drama about a group of friends who find themselves in
trouble because of alcohol misuse. It toured 37 Scottish schools over a six-week
period in 2018, reaching a total of 9,121 S1 and S2 students in Edinburgh and
Borders, Lanarkshire, Stirling, Fife, Inverness, Brora, Speyside and Orkney.
Performances were followed by an interactive workshop where pupils were invited
to ask the cast questions on the issues brought up during the play and explore
the consequences portrayed by the actors.
Following the great success of last year’s tour, Smashed will be touring
Scotland again in from September and November, with performances in 50 schools
in areas from Orkney to Ayrshire.
Smashed was developed in consultation with young people and has been designed to
engage with pupils in a different way to typical school lessons. It combines the
use of drama with an interactive workshop to help young people understand the
facts, causes and consequences surrounding alcohol misuse and the risks of
underage drinking.
Diageo recently set a global target to reach five million pupils, parents and
teachers with the alcohol education messages through Smashed by 2025.
Diageo’s 2025 Positive Drinking strategy to encourage moderation and reduce
alcohol related harm includes ambitious targets to tackle underage drinking,
drink driving and excessive drinking. Diageo supports the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) goal of reducing harmful drinking by 10% and Diageo’s
underage drinking programmes have already reached more than 632,000 people in
the last two years across 20 countries.
Chris Simes from Collingwood Learning said: "Last year was the first time
Smashed had toured Scottish schools and we are incredibly pleased to see such
strong results.
"Our goal is to create a memorable experience for pupils that really builds
their knowledge and understanding about underage drinking and the associated
risks and it is very encouraging to see the evidence that the show had such a
positive impact on Scottish school pupils.
"We look forward to reaching even more pupils across Scotland with our
forthcoming autumn tour."
Aileen Keyes, Head of Alcohol in Society Europe, Diageo said: "We are seeing
positive trends in fewer young people drinking underage and we are committed to
ensuring this downward trend continues.
"Smashed is a powerful and memorable ways of equipping young people with the
tools they need as they approach adulthood, and it is great to see the
evaluation evidence of the positive impact it has had on Scottish school pupils
and their perceptions about alcohol and underage drinking."
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