Minors, not a single drop: over 100 reasons why minors should not drink alcohol

Objective

To inform and raise awareness of the risks related to premature consumption in order to:

delay the age of the onset of drinking.
increase understanding of the risks to physical and mental health development of pupils.
change the perception around underage drinking to make it socially unacceptable.
help parents to set clearer rules for their kids and stick to them.

Description

In 2011, the spirits sector signed the Manifesto against underage drinking which is promoted by the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality. It sets out objectives for working together to eradicate underage drinking which are based on the development of strategies and preventive measures that aim to achieve zero consumption in this group. This was the first time the spirits industry and the Ministry of Health partnered to inform and raise awareness of the risks related to premature consumption.

Espirituosos España continued in its commitment by creating the “Minors not a single drop” campaign in 2013. The campaign aims to help families better understand the risk associated with underage drinking and to help them deal with situations involving alcohol.

At its core are theoretical and practical family workshops run by experienced and renowned psychologist Rocío Ramos Paúl (better known as Supernanny) and supported by town halls. Ramos Paúl provides parents with tips on how to approach situations involving alcohol, shares tips to better talk to and reach out to their children about alcohol, highlights the risks associated with underage drinking. Parents are also given the “Over 100 reasons why minors should not drink alcohol” guide, created in collaboration with Ramos-Paúl which covers all the information provided in the workshops.

Additionally, to achieve the best possible result, the “Minors, not a single drop” network was created with the whole of society approach as a response to requests from various bodies to get involved. To become part of the network the applying body signs an agreement of collaboration with Espirituosos España. Espirituosos España provides the members with the materials to tackle underage alcohol consumption and facilitates the exchange of good practices to address underage drinking. Town halls, private / public bodies and celebrities committed to the network.

The network’s commitments include specific actions involving:

Dsseminating materials aimed at promoting the campaign slogan “Minors, not a drop.”
Promoting actions under the slogan “I do not sell alcohol to minors” with the collaboration of the hospitality/distribution sector.
Disseminating the guide for families.

In addition, the www.menoresniunagota.es website hosts information on the campaign and its different tools:

Minors not a single drop network: Provides information on participating town halls and public entities. It also has a link for interested parties to sign up.
Celebrities: Hosts videos of some of the celebrities who recorded a message of support. These include politicians, actors, actresses, artists, chefs, presenters and sports personalities.
Families: Allows parents to download the guide and to register to family workshops. Parents watch one videos where Ramos Paúl answers frequently asked questions by families and see what other families who attended a workshop had to say about it.

Partners

Distribution sector (Carrefour, Dia, Makro)

Over 300 town halls and public and private bodies are part of the network

Results

Until December 2023:

The parents’ website has had 209,748 visits (11,000 new users in 2023).
Project Minors not a single drop:

Network: Over 300 town halls and private entities have joined the network. The network has reached over 90,000 with various actions.
Guides: 68,150 guides for families have been distributed.
Workshops: 65 workshops have been held with 12,000 participating families.
Celebrities: Over 200 celebrities have collaborated with the campaign.
Social Media: 5,534 followers on Facebook, 604 followers on Twitter, 1,252 followers on Instagram and 1,500 subscribers in Youtube.
On Youtube the video clip of Rayden has had 1.5 views and the videos on the channel total 1.7 million views. Rayden’s song has been downloaded over 1,700 times and accessed 394,905 times in Spotify.

Measurement & evaluation

In 2023, mainly women worried about the education of their children (90%) followed on social media and were very receptive and positive towards the messages. The posts that generated the most response from followers were those related to Rocio Ramos-Paúl and to Rayden. The engagement rate of the campaign was a very positive 5.57% (usually around 3%).

In 2022, mainly women worried about the education of their children (85%) followed on social media. They were very receptive and positive towards the communications.

Evaluation of parents’ workshops asks about parents’ knowledge of their children’s alcohol consumption, and how helpful they found the workshops. Results of the 2019 evaluation shows:

81% of the parents thought the workshop was very helpful and helped them to talk with their children about alcohol misuse.
Families asked questions about:

Long-term consequences of underage consumption, especially the possible effects on health and the possibility of alcohol consumption becoming an addiction (58%).
Short-term consequences (35%) including loss of control and social disturbances (35%).
How to establish rules and limits (16%).
How to approach different situations such as if their child comes home drunk (13%).
How they influence their children’s alcohol consumption (13%).
How to approach communication conflicts with their children and child-parent relationships (12%).
How peers can influence their children, such group pressure and fitting in with the others in a group (11%).

2018 results showed: 25% of parents were worried about the loss of control caused by alcohol consumption, such as accidents or short-term consequences. 26% were concerned about health problems associated with underage consumption. 25% were worried about the possibility of alcohol consumption becoming an addiction. 19% thought that early consumption is linked to leisure and the way their children socialise.