Galway Bay fm newsroom - Students from nineteen secondary schools across Galway have contributed to a university study on alcohol education and behaviours.
The three year study by Maynooth University focused on Drinkaware’s Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme.
The aim of the study was to track 1st to 3rd year students’ experiences of alcohol education in Ireland in real time and chart their outcomes.
It ultimately found that the age at which teenagers take their first drink is delayed with in-school alcohol education.
As the programme progressed, the number of students who expressed no interest in drinking rose from 30 percent in 1st year, to 54 percent in 3rd year.
The study also revealed that the tipping point for the start of underage drinking happens between 2nd and 3rd year.
Professor Sinead McGilloway from Maynooth University, who carried out the study, says some students started seeing the negative impacts of excess drinking.
