Underage Drinking in Britain, Research Proposal Example

For this research proposal I have chosen to research and attempt to come up with a solution for the current problem of the high levels of underage drinking in modern Britain. I will give an outline of the issue in question followed by my proposal for solving it based on the research that I have conducted.

Britain has recently been named as having one of the worst levels of underage drinking in the world in a study by the World Health Organization. The study claims that ’ More young people in Britain have been drunk at a young age than in most other developed countries ‘. The study also states that ‘The UK has the fourth highest levels of alcohol drinking among 15 year olds in the world ‘.

This high level of underage drinking is putting pressure on the NHS who are dealing with high levels of alcohol related conditions and accidents in teenagers. According to an article in the Guardian newspaper ’ The NHS saw a 20% jump over the last few years in the number of under 18s admitted to hospital for alcohol related problems ’.  Ambulance crews have had to deal with cases of teens who have consumed a full litre of alcohol among other incidents.

Another effect of the rise in underage drinking is that alcohol lowers inhibitions in behaviour which has caused a rise in cases of teenage pregnancy. This issue was highlighted recently by the education sectary Ed Balls. He said on the issue ‘ We know that there is a clear link between drinking and having unsafe sex and we also know that the number of unwanted pregnancies has gone up recently ‘.

How these teenagers obtain alcohol is also causing concern for the government. Many teens are asking older people to enter off-licences and buy the alcohol for them. The government is combating this by employing high fines of up to £500 for anyone caught buying alcohol for someone who is under the legal age. Also the government has the power to close down any business caught selling alcohol to under 18s. We also have the challenge 21 program where off-licence staff have to ID anyone who looks under the age of 21.

After conducting my research I have decide that the best way to produce results in tackling this problem is via a 3 part plan.

1. Instead of simply fining people who buy alcohol for underage teens the Government needs to impose harsher punishments. I would suggest a higher fine of £1000 for first time offenders however if the person is caught again they should be given a small jail sentence for around 2 weeks. I believe this would be effective because it would provide a stronger deterrent for people who would consider doing this.
2. I also suggest a campaign of information packs about underage drinking targeted specifically at the parents of these teens to enable them to learn more about the effects of drinking on under 18s, Where and how teenagers can obtain alcohol, How to talk to their children about alcohol and what to do if they believe their child has a problem.#
3. Finally I suggest getting government officials to enter schools and give regular talks at least once a month about this issue to inform students but also make sure that the information they are being given is being kept fresh in their minds at all times. This will be effective because if someone comes to the school to talk about this issue once many teens are likely to simply ignore or forget about it. However if they are made to listen to the points at least once a month it will make it harder for them to ignore the issues.

Overall I think that my solution to this extremely serious problem which is effecting our society today is a very effective one because it will heighten awareness of this issue and enable parents who may not have known how to handle this problem to combat it along side the government.

Works Cited

“Underage Drinking In Britain Amongst The Worst In The World.” Breaking News. Telegraph. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. http://www.telagraph.com.

“Balls Pledges 1.4 Million Crackdown on Teenage Binge Drinking.” Guardian: 1. Print