Objective

To inform, motivate and support parents and guardians to fulfil their important role in educating their children about alcohol and responsible consumption.

Description

Parents play a crucial role in setting an example when it comes to the consumption of alcoholic beverages.  Children begin to imitate their parents’ behaviour as early as around four.  It is therefore very important to implement targeted prevention programmes that enhance parenting skills and enable parents to effectively model healthy consumption patterns for their children.

“Klartext reden!” (Tell it straight!) is an initiative promoting alcohol prevention in families launched in December 2005 by the BSI Working Group on Alcohol and Responsibility and the BundesElternRat (Federal Council of Parents).

There are six main components to the initiative:

1. Parent information evenings at schools: The evenings last between 90-120 minutes. They focus on how to deal with parenting issues such as addressing the subject of alcohol so that a child will listen, setting a credible example when it comes to consuming alcohol, whether the law on the protection of minors applies at a private party and imposing effective limits.  The information evenings are offered nationwide and are held by independent addiction and prevention experts.  The topics for the parents’ evenings are continually updated and adapted to parents’ needs.
2. ‘Klartext reden!’ (‘Tell it straight!’) leaflet for parents.
3. A Facebook page: Provides up-to-date information, topical postings and similar for parents and other interested users. It also serves as a virtual extension of the workshops beyond the evenings on which they are held (questions, lessons learned, etc.).
4. Website: klartext-reden.de
5. Online training for parents: klartext-elterntraining.de: The online training programme includes two courses for improving parenting skills in alcohol prevention, one for parents with children under 14 and another for parents of teens aged 14 and older. The site is optimised for all mobile devices and is free to access without registering.
6. Evaluations (report on the website klartext-reden.de/downloads).

Between 2005 and 2021, the initiative was endorsed by each incumbent Federal Drug Commissioner in a foreword to the current leaflet and to the online training module for parents.

Due to the restrictions on in-person events at schools in 2021 and 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the working group shifted their focus during the reporting period to expanding their digital prevention offerings. This included the development of web-based training and social media campaigns.

In August 2022, the website and online training programme were re-launched.  The redesign aimed to provide a user-friendly platform for parents and schools providing easy access to practical content and training courses.   Also in 2022, the first coaching video was posted on the website and social media.  It features a father-son example situation.  The video was also included as an easily accessible coaching resource in the online training programme.

As part of the initiative some regional activities have a political figure as their patron.  An overview of these patrons can be found on the website (https://www.klartext-reden.de/kooperationen).

Partners

Cooperation with Bundeselternrat (Federal Council of Parents)

Bundesverband der Deutschen Klein- und Obstbrenner

Bundesverband der Obstverschlussbrenner

Results

From launch until December 2022:

• Parent information evenings: 318 events and 1 webinar have been held with a total of 8,028 participants.
• Printed Materials: Around 50,000 leaflets have been printed and distributed.
• The website has had a total of 453,856 users and over 1.5 million page views in total.
• Online training: More than 113,500 parents have used the online training course and the section has had over 258,000 page views.
• The Facebook page has gained 1,205 followers since its launch.  Posts reached a total of around two million users in 2021/2022.
• Media coverage: there were 2 radio broadcasts, 12 printed articles and 32 online articles about the initiative in 2019/2020/2021.

Measurement & evaluation

Evaluation in 2020: On the basis of this evaluation the parent evenings meet parents’ needs and wish to strengthen their self-efficacy expectation.

First part: 167 participants at 14 parents’ events in 2019 and 2020 filled out a survey with questions about prior knowledge, parenting skills, needs and motivations for taking part.  An analysis provided additional information about parents’ self-efficacy expectation with regard to problems that their children may have in relation to alcohol:

• Before an event around 34% of parents weren’t quite sure what to do should problems arise.  29.9% considered themselves only moderately well equipped to set their child clear limits with regard to alcohol.  28.7% only “sometimes” felt well prepared to talk about alcohol.  The events tackle these problems and identify specific recommendations for action with the parents.
• Based on the level of agreement with statements on specific topics, parents can be divided into two groups: One with a high overall self-efficacy expectation and another whose self-efficacy expectation tends to be less pronounced.  Mothers are represented in high self-efficacy expectation group significantly more frequently than fathers.  Younger parents (under 45’s) are more frequently to the high self-efficacy expectation group, with the frequency falling with increasing age.  Conversely, a high level of education level among parents tends to be more frequently associated with a lower self-efficacy expectation. The findings suggest that a high education level tends to lead to insecurity about one’s own parenting skills.

Second part: An online survey asked parents for their assessment on the same topics six weeks after taking part in the workshops.  Initial analysis of 51 responses to the follow-up survey shows a consistently positive trend, which needs to be tested for statistical significance against a larger number of cases.  At almost all levels, parents judged their self-efficacy expectations and their parenting skills to be significantly better after attending the workshops.

Since 2011, a link to the “Klartext-Elterntraining” (training unit for parents) is also provided on the website of “Eltern”, the German parenting magazine (here).

The “Klartext reden!” initiative is also linked to from the “Jugendschutz aktiv” website (promoting the protection of minors) operated by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (here).

The “Klartext-Elterntraining” has been successfully implemented on the Deutscher Bildungsserver (German Education Server) website (here).  Deutscher Bildungsserver is a specialised online education portal featuring information and training for parents as well as teachers and trainers.

Website

http://www.klartext-reden.de/

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