---
title: "Parents as Partners"
type: "pdf"
year: "2009"
canonical: "/projects/1179"
---

Title of the project: Parents as Partners
Application author: Richard Oxley
Organisation submitting the application: South Yorkshire Police Woodhouse Police Station, Station Road Woodhouse, Sheffield S13 7RF

Email address: richard.oxley@southyorks.pnn.police.uk
Telephone number: 07971517483
Partnership agency lead contact details: Tracey Ford
Sheffield Drug \& Alcohol Action Team (DAAT)
Email address: Tracey.ford@sheffieldpct.nhs.uk
01142736881

# Summary: 

# Table of Contents

- [Summary:](#summary)
  - [Scanning:](#scanning)
  - [Analysis:](#analysis)
  - [Response:](#response)
  - [Assessment:](#assessment)
- [Description of project](#description-of-project)
  - [Scanning:](#scanning)
  - [Background Information:](#background-information)
- [Analysis:](#analysis)
- [Problem Analysis Triangle](#problem-analysis-triangle)
  - [Offender:](#offender)
  - [Location:](#location)
  - [Victim:](#victim)
- [Response:](#response)
  - [Offender based:](#offender-based)
  - [Location based:](#location-based)
  - [Victim based:](#victim-based)
  - [Expanding on some of the above:](#expanding-on-some-of-the-above)
- [Assessment:](#assessment)
  - [Words: 3216](#words-3216)
  - [Appendix 1](#appendix-1)
  - [ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR](#anti-social-behaviour)
- [Yours faithfully,](#yours-faithfully)
  - [ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR](#anti-social-behaviour)
- [Yours faithfully,](#yours-faithfully)
  - [APPENDIX 2](#appendix-2)
  - [Sec 30 - Section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003: Dispersal Order](#sec-30-section-30-of-the-anti-social-behaviour-act-2003-dispersal-order)
- [Appendix 4  Young Persons Questionnaire](#appendix-4-young-persons-questionnaire)
- [Consultation report into YP Woodhouse SNA](#consultation-report-into-yp-woodhouse-sna)
- [Alcohol Questionnaire to Schools](#alcohol-questionnaire-to-schools)
  - [Have you ever drunk alcohol with friends?](#have-you-ever-drunk-alcohol-with-friends)
  - [Where do you get your alcohol from?](#where-do-you-get-your-alcohol-from)
- [Who do you drink alcohol with?](#who-do-you-drink-alcohol-with)
- [Family: 373 (or 59\%)](#family-373-or-59)
  - [Why do you drink alcohol?](#why-do-you-drink-alcohol)
  - [Responses:](#responses)
- [How often do you drink alcohol?](#how-often-do-you-drink-alcohol)
- [When are you most likely to drink?](#when-are-you-most-likely-to-drink)
- [What type of things have you or your friends done whilst drinking alcohol, that they wouldn't have done sober?](#what-type-of-things-have-you-or-your-friends-done-whilst-drinking-alcohol-that-they-wouldnt-have-done-sober)
- [Do you know the risks associated with drinking alcohol?](#do-you-know-the-risks-associated-with-drinking-alcohol)
- [Follow-up question: If Yes, what are the risks?](#follow-up-question-if-yes-what-are-the-risks)
  - [Do your parents know you drink alcohol?](#do-your-parents-know-you-drink-alcohol)
  - [Responses:](#responses)
- [Do your parents let you drink in the following places?](#do-your-parents-let-you-drink-in-the-following-places)
- [Useful numbers](#useful-numbers)
  - [Appendix 6](#appendix-6)
  - [Evaluation paper following information road show at Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre 29.10.08](#evaluation-paper-following-information-road-show-at-crystal-peaks-shopping-centre-291008)
- [Breakdown of responses from Questionnaire](#breakdown-of-responses-from-questionnaire)
- [Authorisation](#authorisation)

## Scanning:

The Woodhouse \& Mosborough Safer Neighbourhood Area tackles anti-social behaviour in Sheffield in recognition that it is a key priority. Young people and alcohol is the most significant factor. Examples include; young people found in vulnerable circumstances due to intoxication, reports of young girls trading sexual favours for alcohol, staff at schools seeing an increase of young girls seeking the "morning after pill" and citing alcohol as being a factor. Typically, half of the populace complaints concerning anti social behaviour is connected with youths and alcohol.

## Analysis:

The problem we are addressing is the use of alcohol by young people and the resulting social implications caused to the community and agencies. We devised four project aims to make a local impact. The aims of the "Parents as Partners" project are:-

- To increase the involvement and accountability of parents in problem solving
- To promote harm minimisation and risk messages related to underage drinking
- To increase, improve and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of local partnership working
- To build community confidence in agencies' ability to solve problems


## Response:

We use low cost, high impact and sustainable amendments to existing work to combat the problems identified and meet the aims of the project. This list is not exhaustive:

- Bringing schools' head teachers and parents out on patrol
- Parental Advisory Letters, delivering a factual and powerful message to the parents of young people who have been caught committing alcohol fuelled ASB, the first step leading to Anti social Behaviour Contracts
- Children talking to adults about the dangers of alcohol and responsibility
- Development of proxy test purchases
- Dispersal Orders


## Assessment:

$50 \%$ of parents contacted about the effectiveness of the multi-agency PALs said it was a positive thing. A further $25 \%$ contacted agencies and wanted help in changing their children's behaviour.

Staff members in schools who received training are more confident in working with young people with alcohol issues and referring onto treatment services. The number of multi-agency PALs has increased. This mechanism is now pan-Sheffield. Referrals to alcohol support agencies have come from parents who receive information from the multiagency PALs. Previously, there were none.

Results from the recent Your Voice Counts survey show 63\% of respondents believe the Dispersal Orders to have been effective. $45 \%$ of respondents believe the police and council are dealing with the things that matter most in their area.

Words: 399

# Description of project 

## Scanning:

## Background Information:

Woodhouse \& Mosborough Safer Neighbourhood Area (SNA) lies on the Southeast of Sheffield, an area of 13.6 square miles and a population of approximately 90,000 , which is nearly one fifth of the total population of Sheffield. The SNA is made up of 16 individual Neighbourhoods, four electoral wards, 2 Hypermarkets, 1 shopping mall, four comprehensive schools, 20 primary schools and is policed by two Safer Neighbourhood Teams that come under the command of the SNA Inspector, Colin McFarlane. This SNA is bigger than some BCUs in the country.

The SNA has been engaging with communities and tacking anti social behaviour (ASB) in their area for approximately 4 years. In that time, the issue that stood out above the rest was young people and access to alcohol. Because of this, they have highlighted Alcohol \& Young People as one of their top four priorities for action as agreed by the area's Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG).

Youth workers state they have to engage at a earlier time of day, (15:30 - 16:00) as youths on the streets are often already intoxicated by the time they would normally get out there (18:30 - 20:30).
"We used get out and see the kids in the evenings but now if we are working with them on Fridays we have to be out by 3:30 otherwise they are already hammered "
(Vaz Falconer - Area Youth Worker)
The trend to finish school and, "get wasted" is mirroring the behaviour of adult's attitude to finish work on a Friday and go to the pub. Various operations, some funded by Government Office for Yorkshire \& Humber, produced startling results in terms of alcohol confiscation. One two-week period resulted in over 100 separate incidents of alcohol recovery. The clear conclusion was that alcohol was readily available to young people.

The criminal consequences resulting from this problem can place young people in either victim or offending role. As we know, alcohol's ability to suppress inhibitions and intoxicate can create vulnerability, aggression, recklessness and boisterousness. In the young, naivety as to alcohol tolerance exacerbates these effects.

Below is a non-definitive list of experienced behaviours ;
Young person stealing alcohol
Anti-social behaviour
Criminal damage
Sale of Alcohol to minors
Public order
Sexual offences
Robbery
The problem was highlighted to the SNA when information regarding the issue of alcohol fuelled ASB, showed the area to be the most active out of all the ten SNAs in Sheffield when dealing young people and alcohol. This was reflected in the number of Parental Advisory Letters (PAL) sent out to parents advising them of their child's' behaviour.
"Mosborough \& Woodhouse SNA rank the highest in terms of the number of PAL letters sent to parents where ASB was alcohol related. 174 letters were sent out by Woodhouseand Mosborough out of 542 that were sent out citywide" (A/PS Tony Pollitt, ASB Officer South Yorkshire Police)

A local Development Trust and Acis, a Registered Social Landlord, wished to get a broader picture of resident's issues and perceptions around crime and safety in the community. They both cover the neighbourhood of Woodthorpe, which is one of the 16 neighbourhoods that are covered by the SNA. The results of the survey showed the biggest concern was under age drinking and drinking in open places. $65 \%$ of people believed that under aged drinking were a problem in Woodthorpe.

Staff members at local secondary schools have seen an increase of young girls, going to youth clinic, because of unprotected sex over the weekend. When interviewed, alcohol is the constant catalyst.

The Safer Neighbourhood Officer and the SNA Inspector attend regular Community Safety Groups (CSGs) and

Partners And Communities Together (PACTs) meetings throughout the area. It was clear a theme of young people, alcohol and ASB was amongst the most common issues raised. The community members at meetings would share accounts of encounters with young people and alcohol, causing ASB. That those youths having been confrontational, and leaving piles of litter in communal locations including cans, bottles, cigarettes, food, condoms and other paraphernalia. The attendees of the meetings often called for action on this persistent problem.

Stakeholders with and interest in the increased involvement and accountability of parents, an increase in efficiency and effectiveness of partnership working and a increase in community confidence in agencies ability to solve problems include;

- South Yorkshire Police,
- Sheffield City Council,
- Sheffield Drug \& Alcohol Action Team
- Parents
- Woodthorpe Development Trust
- Social Housing Landlords
- Local secondary schools
- Community Safety Groups
- Partners And Community Together groups


# Analysis: 

The real problem we are trying to address is the use of alcohol by young people and the resulting social implications caused to the community and agencies. Obviously, this extensive national and cultural issue asks questions of how we conduct our own lives as well as how we raise our children. We are not so arrogant to think we could provide a sustainable solution to such a complex issue. However, the complexities should not give us the excuse to sit back from making an impact because of an apathetic attitude towards a problem. Therefore, we developed four project aims to deliver local impact. The Aims of the "Parents as Partners" project are;

- To increase the involvement and accountability of parents in problem solving
- To promote harm minimisation and risk messages related to underage drinking.
- To increase improve and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of local partnership working
- To build community confidence in agencies ability to solve problems

The reasoning behind these were;
A lack of parental awareness regarding the behaviour of their children
Young people were at risk from both a health and criminal point of view
Partners were not working together to tackle the problem and opportunities were being missed
Community confidence in agencies' ability to tackle the problem was low
To achieve these aims "Parents as Partners" have the agreed objectives;
Target \& consult young people
Run a local Alcohol Awareness campaign
Targeting parents to raise awareness of young people's activity
Train and build the capacity of partner agencies staff to deal with the issue
Joint agency patrolling to encourage partnership working and show a united front
We measured the extent of the problem by counting the number of alcohol related PAL (Parental Advisory Letters) letters sent out by the SNA. We also kept a record of the amount of young people encountered by the SNA on patrols who where under the influence of alcohol.

We also measured the perceptions of the community through Your Voice Counts (YVC - Police Authority survey of residents, questions aligned to the British Crime Survey).

The YVC survey was sent out to a random selection of Woodhouse SNA residents in for the last two years. There were 534 respondents, a response rate of $31.7 \%$ in 2008/09 compared to $35.4 \%$ in 2007/08.

We conducted a consultation exercise with young people, this was done targeting all Y9s (13 to 14 year olds) attending all four local secondary schools in the SNA. We chose to consult with young people for the following reasons;

- To ascertain a clearer true picture of young people's attitudes and experiences with alcohol locally
- To use the outcomes to help inform safe and harm minimization messages for young people, involved them in developing the materials to market this message to parent via local shopping centres and public spaces

- Use the outcomes to help educate and better inform parents about the risk associated with underage drinking

A full copy can be found in Appendix 4
The enabler to the problem lay in variety of factors, physical, attitudinal and social. There was a clear lack of appreciation as to the dangers of alcohol and young people, both as victims and offenders. A lack, or perceived lack, of awareness amongst some parents of the dangers and risks presented to young people. Parents on the most part did not know where their children were or what they were doing. When officers encountered young people under the influence of alcohol, the resulting action was to contact the parents. The outcome of this usually ended in the parents saying something along the lines of, "I thought he was round at his mates playing Playstation" or "She told me she was stopping at [insert name here] for a sleep over". The officers would then ask, "Did you not check?" "Did you ring the friend's parent?" or "Have you tried his/her mobile?" We do not want to encourage a lack of trust between parents and their children but we are trying to get parents to be smarter in their actions. All to often, officers encounter a group of near comatose teenagers, all of whom have fed their parents a "cover story", the parents accept the "sleep-over" only to be called out by officers in the middle of the night to see the reality for themselves.

The societal acceptance by young people and even the wider community that public drinking by young people was not "hurting anyone" and last but not least the readiness and ease of which alcohol could be obtained. Results of operations and speaking to young people led to a conclusion that alcohol was being obtained by young people in one of four ways:

- They buy it. Although rigorously test purchased, local off licenses either knowingly or unknowingly continued to sell alcohol to persons under age.
- Group members over 18 were buying it and distributing it to young members. For example, the age range of a group of youths that regularly congregate together could be from 12yrs to 19yrs. Therefore the 18/19yr olds legally buy but then supply the alcohol to their younger friends.
- Young people were asking members of the public to buy it for them. This again is more complex than it looks on the surface. Further investigation found two routes the groups would take depending on the group/customer/location. On occasion, persons entering the shop would be approached by under age young people who would proceed to ask the customer to buy for them; this could be coupled with the belief that no one was 'getting hurt'. On other occasions, the problem would take a more sinister route with young people making threats to approaching customers that if they did not buy alcohol for the group then there would be consequences such as damaging the customer's vehicle or in some cases threats of violence to the customer.
- They were getting it from home - with or without parental knowledge, there was even anecdotal evidence that parents were dropping young people off at locations and giving them alcohol, as long as they, "keep out of trouble".

Various interventions have been in place over many years, test purchasing, educational projects in schools, national and local drinking campaigns and patrols by the SNA to name a few. This isn't about re-inventing a wheel; this is about fixing the punctures and joining up four wheels to make a viable vehicle fit for purpose. Some of the above interventions work in their own right but they are by no means the complete answer to the problem in question. There are gaps present and part of this project is filing those gaps with new or existing ideas to present a more comprehensive solution.

# Problem Analysis Triangle 

## Offender:

- Parents lack of responsibility
- Young people drink and acting in anti-social manner
- Off-licenses selling to young people under the age of 18 yrs old


## Location:

- Various locations within Southeast Sheffield, communal areas such as foot paths, shopping parades, natural seating locations such as walls, steps, and benches, usually areas that give light, shelter and access to food and/or drink


## Victim:

- Community who suffer ASB
- Local business who suffer loss of trade and have to repair damage and endure ASB
- Young people who become victims of various ASB and violence from other young people

# Response: 

## Offender based:

- Bringing schools heads and parents out on patrol with SNA officers during peak times for ASB, buying-them into the problem, learning from them to develop the solution
- PALs where young people have been caught committing alcohol fuelled ASB, mechanism extended to Youth Offending Team referral for second incident, third generates an ABC.
- Children talking to adults in shopping centres about the dangers of alcohol and responsibility
- PCSOs delivering a hard-hitting, evidence-based presentation to parents at parents' evenings, transition evenings and shopping centres via a professional, interactive display stand (ARPA/Home Office grant funded)
- All four secondary schools produced a parent advisory leaflet, which signpost parents to various support agencies; this is distributed at parent transition evenings.


## Location based:

- Young People have been dispersed in areas covered by Section 30 Dispersal Order
- Use of Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act
- Confiscated alcohol from young people
- Development of proxy test purchases. i.e. the young people ask a member of the public to buy alcohol for them. Police conduct regular test purchasing on off licenses within the SNA area.
- Targeted youth work in hot-spot locations.


## Victim based:

- Information given to local community at meetings
- We asked, You said, We did
- Police presence at Community Safety Groups/PACT
- Letter drops
- Newsletters


## Expanding on some of the above:

Parental Advisory Letters - protocols already existed to inform parents of a Child's ASB via a parental advisory letter, which described the nature of the incident that the child was involved. We further developed this system to include where the incident was alcohol related ASB, the parents received an additional letter sign posting and encouraging them to access information, advice around parenting and drug and alcohol education. This response was chosen because parents were often unaware of the issues or where to take forward any action following finding out that their child had been involved in alcohol fuelled ASB. The letter is an ideal conduit to encourage early engagement from families. Examples can be found in Appendix1
Section 30 Dispersal Order - A Dispersal Order states uniformed officers can disperse groups of three or more people if they are causing or likely to cause harassment alarm or distress. In addition, if a person under 16 years of age is causing or likely to cause harassment alarm or distress and is not under the supervision of an supervising adult then they can be taken home or to a place of safety. A full description of the Section 30 legislation can be found in Appendix 2
We asked, You said, We did - This is a communication and engagement tool used to show partner agencies accountability to local communities. We speak to the community and ask them what they want. We then undertake the requested work and finally tell them the outcome. This is as required by the Policing Pledge. This is all captured in a newsletter format and distributed throughout the relevant community. An example can be found in Appendix 3

The Safer Neighbourhood Officer and the SNA Inspector attend regular Community Safety Groups (CSGs) and Partners And Communities Together (PACTs) meetings throughout the area to feedback to the community what we have been doing and to pick up new intelligence. As part of the response, we undertook an information road show at local shopping centres. This involved local young people approaching adults and talking to them about alcohol, the results of the young person's survey and buying alcohol for young people.

Although a multi-agency project, lead agencies were South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield Drug \& Alcohol Action Team. SYP's specialist Children and Young Person's Officer, Paul Chappell lead on engagement with young people while the DAAT's Carer \& Communities Development Officer, Tracey Ford lead on content of publications and training, funding, publicity and compiling the survey results from young people. The responses were not resource intensive, with the main draw been on time and expertise for the training. Some small amount of funding was acquired to perform the consultation with young people and the publicity materials. The response to the identified problems was all chosen because they were high impact, low cost solutions. They involved tweaking existing work to ensure very little financial input or time constraints. We planned these responses to be as sustainable as possible,

allowing partners to carry on with this project indefinitely.

# Assessment: 

The project base line ran from $1^{\text {st }}$ of April 2007 to $31^{\text {st }}$ March 2008 with the project running from $1^{\text {st }}$ April 2008 to $31^{\text {st }}$ March 2009

The Aims of the "Parents as Partners" project where:-
To increase the involvement and accountability of parents in problem solving.
$50 \%$ of parents contacted about the effectiveness of the multi-agency Parental Advisory Letters said it was a positive thing and a further $25 \%$ contacted agencies and wanted help or involvement in changing their children's behaviour.

To promote harm minimization and risk messages related to underage drinking.
It is hard to measure the effectiveness of these messages, its clear from the young people's consultation that they are aware of the dangers of alcohol but choose to ignore them, just like adults.

To increase improve and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of local partnership working
Staff members in schools who received training are more confident in working with young people with alcohol issues and referring onto treatment services. The number of multi-agency Parental Advisory Letters has increased and this system of working has now been adopted across Sheffield. Referrals to alcohol support agencies have come from parents who have receive information the multi-agency PALs.

To build community confidence in agencies ability to solve problems
Some results from the recent Your Voice Counts survey show $63 \%$ of respondents believe the Dispersal Orders to have been effective, and $97 \%$ would support the creation of further designated areas within their neighbourhood. $45 \%$ of respondents believe the police and council are dealing with the things that matter most in their local area, a figure significantly better than last year and the SYP force average.

In conclusion, the project was a successful in achieving the aims. The improvements in partnership working and increase in community confidence are a positive result. The lack of measure in promoting harm minimization messages is difficult to meaningfully quantify. Anecdotal evidence supports the belief that the project communicates the message effectively to both parents and young people. The parental involvement and accountability has shown some progress even if they are small steps in the right direction it will give us foundation to build on for the future.

What worked was getting together as partners talking issue through and coming up with solutions outside of normal meeting parameters. What didn't work was relying or assuming that a new or innovative idea would be of interest to the media. The proxy test purchasing and teachers/parents out on patrol with local SNA staff would have had a wider impact if the local media had picked up the stories. This project will not stop here, we hope to build and learn from what we have done already and carry on tackling this issue. The problem has not gone away and nor will the effort to counter it. Unfortunately, the guaranteed constants in this problem is their will always be a new generation of children and their will always be alcohol.

## Words: 3216

## Appendix 1

The parent or guardian of

Your Ref:
Our Ref SHEFF/ASBO
Date: 06/04/2009

## ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

1 On 6.2.09 at around 20.30hrs, was seen in possession of alcohol on Jaunty Lane, Basegreen. This was confiscated by Officers owing to age.
Ben was also found to be in possession of alcohol on 16.2.09, again as he was walking on Jaunty Lane. On the last occasion, when Officers spoke to he gave a false address.
our child was found to be amongst this group.

Anti-social behaviour is not acceptable; this letter is our first course of action to bring this incident to your attention.

We do not seek to make criminals of young people, we would rather seek the co-operation of parents and carers in modifying their future behaviour, through advice and guidance.

Please discuss with your child the implications of their anti-social behaviour and the effect it is having on the local community.

Please note - the information contained in this letter may be shared with other agencies, including where appropriate, your housing landlord. I have enclosed details of other services who can offer help and support to parents and carers.

# Yours faithfully, 

Sheffield Anti-Social Behaviour Team
South Yorkshire Police
Ecclesfield Police Station
SHEFFIELD S35 9WL
Tel: 01142963972 /2964766

The parent or guardian of

Your Ref:
Our Ref SHEFF/ASBO/1054
Date: 17.3.09

## ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

On 3.4.2008, we sent you a letter informing you that your child had been identified as causing anti-social behaviour. In that letter, we asked you to speak to them about improving their behaviour. Other incidents of anti-social behaviour have now occurred.

Anti-social behaviour of this nature is completely unacceptable, and we are disappointed that your child is continuing to behave in an unacceptable manner.

South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield Homes work together to take action against anyone who commits anti-social behaviour. This includes the issuing of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs), Parenting Contracts, and if you live in a Council property, Sheffield Homes may take action against your tenancy.

We have shared information about this incident with relevant agencies, including Sheffield City Council and the Prevention Team (Youth Offending Service) who will contact you directly to offer you advice and support.

# Yours faithfully, 

Sheffield Anti-Social Behaviour Team
South Yorkshire Police
Ecclesfield Police Station
SHEFFIELD S35 9WL
Tel: 01142963972 / 2964766

## APPENDIX 2

## Sec 30 - Section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003: Dispersal Order

This section applies where a relevant officer has reasonable grounds for believing:
(a) that any members of the public have been intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed as a result of the presence or behaviour of groups of two or more persons in public places in any locality in his police area (the "relevant locality"),
and
(b) That anti-social behaviour is a significant and persistent problem in the relevant locality.

The relevant officer may give an authorisation that the powers conferred on a constable in uniform are to be exercisable for a period specified in the authorisation, which does not exceed 6 months.

Subsection applies if a constable in uniform has reasonable grounds for believing that the presence or behaviour of a group of two or more persons in any public place in the relevant locality has resulted, or is likely to result, in any members of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed.

The constable may give one or more of the following directions, namely:
(a) A direction requiring the persons in the group to disperse (either immediately or by such time as he may specify and in such way as he may specify),
(b) A direction requiring any of those persons whose place of residence is not within the relevant locality to leave the relevant locality or any part of the relevant locality (either immediately or by such time as he may specify and in such way as he may specify),

And
(c) A direction prohibiting any of those persons whose place of residence is not within the relevant locality from returning to the relevant locality or any part of the relevant locality for such period (not exceeding 24 hours) from the giving of the direction as he may specify

If, between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am , a constable in uniform finds a person in any public place in the relevant locality who he has reasonable grounds for believing:
(a) Is under the age of 16 ,

And
(b) Is not under the effective control of a parent or a responsible person aged 18 or over,

He may remove the person to the person's place of residence unless he has reasonable grounds for believing that the person would, if removed to that place, be likely to suffer significant harm.

# Appendix 4  Young Persons Questionnaire 

Are you: Male Female

1. Have you ever drunk Alcohol? Please circle YES NO
2. Where do you get your alcohol from? Please circle which applies to you from the selection below

Mates Parents Asking adults to buy for you Shops
Other
3. Who do you drink alcohol with?

Alone Friends Family
4. Why do you drink alcohol?
5. How often do you drink alcohol? Please circle which applies to you from the five options
Never Rarely Once a week? More than once a week? Once a month?
6. If you do drink, what time of the week are you most likely to drink? During week? Weekends?
7. If you do drink, what time of the day are you most likely to drink? During day? Evenings?
8. What types of things have you or your friends done whilst drinking alcohol, that they wouldn't have done sober?
9. Do you know the dangers associated with drinking alcohol? YES NO

If you answered YES what are the risk? $\qquad$
$\qquad$
$\qquad$
10. Do your parents know you drink alcohol?
YES
Don't know
11. Do your parents allow you to drink alcohol in the following places?
a) At home
YES
b) Out with friends, on the streets
YES
c) On holiday
YES
12. Do you think you have a problem with alcohol?
YES
Don't Know
13. If you knew/thought you had a problem with alcohol, would you know where to go for help/advise?
YES
If you answered YES where would you go? $\qquad$

If you would like someone to contact you about this or any other issues concerning you please leave your name and number and a member of staff from SHED will contact you in STRICT CONDIFENCE
$\qquad$
14. Would you ever consider talking to a member of staff at school regarding any concerns you might have about your own or someone else's drinking?

YES
Don't know
If you answered YES who would you talk to? $\qquad$
If you answered NO who would you be more likely to talk over any concerns? I.e. youth worker, friend etc
$\qquad$
15. If you were asked what percentage of your friends drank regularly what percent would you say?
$25 \% \quad 50 \% \quad 75 \% \quad 100 \%$
Other comments.
$\qquad$
16. What activity if any would draw you away from drinking alcohol or what would you rather be doing?
$\qquad$
$\qquad$
17. Have you any other comments? $\qquad$

# Consultation report into YP Woodhouse SNA

# Alcohol Questionnaire to Schools 

Number of respondents - 628
Of which:
![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-0.jpeg)

## Have you ever drunk alcohol with friends?

Yes - 404 (or 64\%)
No - 205 (or 33\%)
19 people (or 3\%) declined to answer this question.
Gender breakdown:

Have you ever drunk alcohol with friends?
![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-1.jpeg)

Interesting to note a much higher \%age of females drinking with friends

## Where do you get your alcohol from?

The number of respondents who indicated they obtained alcohol from the following sources are as

follows:
Mates: 164 (26\% of all respondents)
Parents: 287 (46\%)
Asking adults to buy: 84 (13\%)
Shops: 70 (11\%)
More than one Yes was allowed for this question.
48 respondents (or $8 \%$ ) wrote next to this question that they did not drink at all, of which 30 were male.
Gender breakdown:
![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-2.jpeg)

Many more females answered this question rather than offering no responses. Both sexes seem to have the same prevalence of asking their parents: females are much more likely to obtain alcohol from their mates.

# Who do you drink alcohol with? 

Responses are as follows:
Alone: 10 (or 2\% of respondents)
Friends: 332 (or 53\%)

Parents as Partners
Page 13 of 25

# Family: 373 (or 59\%) 

More than one responses was allowed for this question.

Gender breakdown:

![img-3.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-3.jpeg)

Neither sex more likely to drink with family. More males admitted to drinking on their own, but very low numbers ( 6 males compared to 4 females).

## Why do you drink alcohol?

This question was asked as a free text questions. The responses were collated and where relevant, categorized as much as possible into the following categories:

- Family/Special occasions (mentions of Xmas, New Year, parties, other celebrations)
- It tastes nice (or tastes good, like the taste, its nice etc...)
- To relax or relieve stress (or unwind)
- Social (with friends, to fit in, to relax, to have fun etc...)


## Responses:

Family/Special occasions: 148 (or 24\% of respondents)
Tastes nice: 97 (or 15\%)
To relax/relieve stress: 66 (or 11\%)
Social: 162 (or 26\%)
Gender breakdown:

![img-4.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-4.jpeg)

It seems that many more females were willing to "open up" and write down their feelings for why they drink alcohol. However more males seem to like the taste that females.

# How often do you drink alcohol? 

209 respondents (or 33\%) did not answer this question at all, the most obvious reason that they might not drink at all.

Of the 419 people who answered, the breakdown is as follows:
Once a week: 273 (or $65 \%$ of respondents)
More than once a week: 69 (16\%)
Less than once a week or rarely: (18\%)
The latter was not an option provided on the questionnaire, but many respondent chose to write next to the question that they drank less than once a week instead of answering the question. Therefore I have included it as a response here.

Gender breakdown:

![img-5.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-5.jpeg)

Not much between the two genders here. Once a week was the most popular response from both sexes.

# When are you most likely to drink? 

162 respondents (or $26 \%$ ) did not answer this question at all, the most obvious reason again that they might not drink at all.

Of the 466 people who answered, the breakdown is as follows:
Weekends: 381 (or $82 \%$ of respondents)
Evenings: 43 (or 9\%)
Weekends and evenings: 29 (or 6\%)
During the week: 5 (or 1\%)
During the day: 4 (or 1\%)
Other: 4 (or 1\%)
The latter was not an option provided on the questionnaire, but many respondents chose to write next to the question that they only drank at events such as parties which are infrequent. Therefore I have included it as a response here.

Gender breakdown:

![img-6.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-6.jpeg)

Females are more likely to drink in both the evenings and weekends: males are more likely to pick either one of these.

# What type of things have you or your friends done whilst drinking alcohol, that they wouldn't have done sober? 

This question was asked as a free text question. The responses were collated and the responses categorized into the following groups:

- Drug taking
- Sexual behaviour
- Anti social behaviour
- Criminal behaviour/damage
- Accidental behaviour (such as falling over, vomiting etc...)

Responses:
Drug taking: 9 (or 1\% of respondents)
Sexual behaviour: 42 (or 7\%)
Anti social behaviour: 71 (or 11\%)
Criminal behaviour/damage: 14 (or 2\%)
Accidental behaviour: 133 (or 21\%)

Gender breakdown:

![img-7.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-7.jpeg)

Females much more likely to act differently (or know people who have acted differently).

# Do you know the risks associated with drinking alcohol? 

Responses:
Yes: 531 (or $85 \%$ of respondents)
No: 53 (or $8 \%$ )
Not answered: 44 (or 7\%)
Gender breakdown:

![img-8.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-8.jpeg)

More females recorded as knowing the risks involved. More males chose not to answer this question, this could have been for a number of reasons, such as they did not know the answer to the question, or they could not be bothered to answer it as Yes because of the follow-up question.

# Follow-up question: If Yes, what are the risks? 

See Appendix for list of responses.

## Do your parents know you drink alcohol?

## Responses:

Yes: 446 (or $71 \%$ of respondents)
No: 71 (or 11\%)
Not answered: 111 (or 18\%)
A lot of respondents who chose not to answer this question were keen to stress the point throughout the rest of the questionnaire that they never drank. Therefore, many of the people not answering do not drink whatsoever.

Gender breakdown:

![img-9.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-9.jpeg)

A lot more females answering that their parents know that they drink alcohol. Interesting, double the \% of males did not answer this question. As well as some of these people not drinking at all, are there other reasons behind this high non-answer rate?

# Do your parents let you drink in the following places? 

We asked if the parents of the respondent let them drink at home, and on the street (with friends). Both could be answered as Yes

The responses were as follows:
At home: 489 (or $78 \%$ of respondents)
Out with friends on the street: 49 (or $8 \%$ )

Gender breakdown:

![img-10.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-10.jpeg)

More females being allowed to drink at home, according to the results
It should be noted that where YP have said that they are allowed to drink at home, 148 ( $26 \%$ of respondents) drank only on special family occasions under the supervision of their parents.

The results also indicate that those who cited that their parents didn't allow them to drink with friends outside of the home( $92 \%$ ) the $43 \%$ of young cited that they still drank on a weekly basis. $61 \%$ said that they would drink on a weekend. This suggests that although parents don't condone or allow young people to drink with friends in streets, a percentage of young people still do.

![img-11.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-11.jpeg)

Hi you may recall participating in a survey about your experiences and perceptions around alcohol use in late June of this year?
628 out of 1000 questionnaires were completed, by the Y9's from the following schools in your area:

- Birley Community College

- City School
- Handsworth Grange School
- Westfield Sports College

At the time we promised to feed back the outcomes of that survey and provide some helpful information and advice based on what you shared with us.
On behalf of the Safer Neighbourhood Action Group we would like to thank all of you who took the time out to help contribute to the consultation and developing this poster.
What we found out?
$64 \%$ of Young people had drunk or tried alcohol with friends; the majority of those young people who did drink with friends only did so on the odd occasion. $33 \%$ of young people had never drunk socially with friends or didn't drink at all. There were a minority of young people who did say though that they drank regularly.

The majority of young people said that they were given alcohol from their parents, but only on special occasions or under the supervision of their parents. There was however a minority of young people who did obtain alcohol by asking adults to buy it on their behalf or from the shop themselves. Please note that this IS ILLEGAL and the any adult caught buying alcohol on your behalf can also get fined by police. The majority of you guys were pretty clued up when it come to being aware of the health risks associated to drinking alcohol. The majority of you had a good understanding of where you would $1_{\text {st }}$ go to if they had a problem. When we asked who you would be more likely to confide or talk to someone about any problems, the majority of you said parents or members of their family. If you would like a more detailed copy of the report you can log onto www.sheffielddaat.org.uk

# Useful numbers 

Interested in working with the Police? There are a number of opportunities available for young people to get involved in working alongside South Yorkshire Police, if you are interested please call 2963779 And ask for Paul Chappell

Drugs \& Alcohol If you are worried about yourself, a friend or a member of your family call SHED2729164 or log onto www.talktofrank.com

Contraception and sexual health advice and support call the central health clinic on 2718840
Activities If you want to find out about what's happening in your area contact John Burke, Sheffield Futures 2514287

Got a problem, need to talk call Child line on 08001111111
![img-12.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-29/img-12.jpeg)

## Appendix 6

## Evaluation paper following information road show at Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre 29.10.08

Number of contacts made throughout the day
Adults 67
Young People 17
Nature of enquiries
Drugs 18
Alcohol 39

ASB 9
Community Safety 58
Other 2
Parent requiring support around her 15 year old son smoking large quantities of cannabis, the son had a key worker but wasn't complying with treatment.

A teacher took a pile of information and a business card to contact DAAT at a later date
Action taken
Referral was made to family support service in Chesterfield area.
Information that was taken away by the general public
Drugs information 13
Drugs advise for
Parents booklet 44
Alcohol 15
Community safety 21
Paul Chappell, SYP, Tracey Ford, DAAT, PCSO's and a group of YP approached adults visiting Crystal peaks shopping centre during the period of
14-10-08 60 Questionnaires were completed
17-10-08 2 Questionnaires were completed
29-10-08 55 questionnaires were completed
Total 118 completed
The purpose was to ascertain their views and perceptions of alcohol fuelled ASB.

# Breakdown of responses from Questionnaire 

Do you live in this SNA area?
Do you think that underage drinking is a Problem in the area you live?
Did you know that the police and other Agencies are working in partnership to Tackle underage drinking?
Have you ever been approached to buy Alcohol for someone underage

Did you know it is illegal to buy/supply Alcohol for someone underage

YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

YES
YES

YES
$87 \quad 74 \%$
31 26\%
75 64\%
21 18\%
22 19\%
76 64\%
36 31\%
6 5\%
YES
28 24\%
90 76\%
YES
116 98\%
1 \%

# Authorisation 

Chairperson: Chief Superintendent Paul Broadbent
Contact email address: paul.braodbent@southyorks.pnn.police.uk