Icelandic schools consider breathalyzers as youth drinking rises

Schools in Iceland are considering using breathalyzers at events after reports of increased alcohol consumption among children and teenagers, mbl.is reports. Dóra Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir, director of public health at the Directorate of Health, said data from people working with young people and responses from teenagers themselves pointed to an increase.

Teenagers cite greater access to alcohol and increased pressure when explaining why drinking rises during their first year of upper-secondary school, she said. Dóra also said alcohol was becoming increasingly normalised in society and more prominent in everyday life.

Police paid special attention to underage drinking during Reykjavík Culture Night last Saturday and had to intervene with a considerable number of children and teenagers. Two entertainment venues in the city centre were also closed after inspections found that many underage people were inside. In each case, guardians were contacted and had to collect their children from the police.

Dóra said social media contributed to the trend by presenting alcohol as a necessary part of celebrating and toasting. She added that schools were considering breathalyzers at events because they had noticed increased alcohol consumption among compulsory-school pupils.

Research shows that greater access leads to increased consumption, Dóra said. The data also suggested that parents had become more permissive. In the past, parents had acted more collectively to avoid buying alcohol for their children, allowing them to drink at home or accepting gatherings where alcohol was consumed.

Fewer children now receive clear rules from their parents about alcohol, including when they must return home, she said. People working in youth centres and with young people had noticed the same development, while the police response during Culture Night also pointed to increased teenage drinking.

Dóra said cannabis use had not increased in a comparable way among the age groups concerned, namely the oldest compulsory-school pupils and youngest upper-secondary pupils. She said use had remained stable among a particular group and recalled that in 1998, more than 40 per cent of young people said in surveys that they had been drunk during the previous 30 days.