Objective

To inform, motivate and support parents and guardians to fulfil their important role in the sphere of alcohol education with children and adolescents.

Description

The project consists of:

• Dedicated website, Facebook page and online training module for parents and guardians since 2010. The training module is tailoured by age group (parents of under 12's, 12-13 year olds, 14-15 year olds and 16-18 year olds). The training takes about 30 minutes to complete. The website contains more information on the initiative as well as materials and since 2012  3 information videos which answer Frequently Asked Questions. Since 2015 the Facebook page additionally offers current information and the opportunity to enter into a dialogue with other parents and with the "Klartext reden!" team. Since 2017 2 videos have been published on Facebook with information from Prof. Dr. Martina Leibovici-Mühlberger.
• A brochure for parents and guardians, with information and suggestions (description of alcohol content, alcohol units, legal information etc.).
• Workshops (lasting between 90 and 120 minutes) to inform parents and guardians about "Adolescents and Alcohol" during school events and to give them tips on how to start a dialogue with their children (agreement on rules, limits and how to check on them). Parents receive small gifts as a reminder of "Tell it straight!" (branded glass, ball pens).
• Every workshop is held by an independent addiction and prevention expert and is accompanied by press releases to create better awareness on the important role of parents in alcohol prevention.
• Every year, the initiative receives patronage from prominent German figures.

Partners

Cooperation with

• BundesElternRat (Federal Council of Parents)

Results

• About 7,820 parents and guardians have been trained by the programme at one of the 305 workshops (until December 2019).
• About 83,800 parents (207,460 page views) have used the online training since 2010.
• 50,000 leaflets have been distributed,
• the videos with Prof. Dr. Martina Leibovici-Mühlberger seen about 5,600 times and
• the website has had about 403,470 users with about 1.1 million page views since the initiative was launched in 2005 (until December 2019).
• Reporting on the "Klartext reden!" initiative’s activities in 2019 took the form of 25 appearances in print, television/radio and online.

Measurement & evaluation

A two-part evaluation in 2012 reaffirmed the ongoing effectiveness of the "Klartext reden!" initiative:

• Part I of the analysis looked at questionnaires completed by 1,856 participants at 73 workshops between May 2009 and April 2012:
  - No fewer than 96% of the parents who filled out the questionnaire said would unreservedly recommend the information workshop to other parents,
  - 87% said they had learned new knowledge, and
  - 87% felt better equipped as a result of the workshop to set their children limits with regard to alcohol.
  - Parents of children at lower secondary schools (Volksschule, Realschule or Hauptschule) benefit especially from the information provided, estimating their personal learning effect from the workshop to be significantly greater than did parents of grammar school (Gymnasium) children. The positive scores are reflected in an average grade of 1.8 (on the German school grading scale of 1-6).
• In a control group comparison (Part II), a further 122 parents handed in an anonymous questionnaire after taking part in one of five "Klartext reden!" workshops in October 2012. These were compared with the outcomes of an online survey of 150 parents who had not taken part in workshops, and analysed for statistically significant differences. A key finding was that parents are substantially more motivated to openly address the subject of alcohol with their children after taking part in a "Klartext reden!" workshop than parents who have not attended one of the workshops.
  - 85% of workshop attendees said they wanted to hold a conversation with their child on the topic of alcohol soon after the workshop. This differs significantly from parents who took part in an online survey and had not attended one of the workshops,
  - where only 58% said they planned to speak with their children on this difficult topic in the near future.
  - 85% of parents who had not yet taken part in a "Klartext reden!" workshop would like to attend such an information workshop at a school.

This shows the great need for targeted support of parents with regard to alcohol prevention in the family.

Website

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

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