“Be the Mentor you wish you’d had”
· In November 2015, SAB launched a new advertising campaign as part of 18+ calling on young adults to ‘Be the mentor you wish you’d had’.
· 150 South Africans from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town aged between 23 and 30 years old have been appointed to champion the cause and rally other South Africans to rise to the challenge of being a mentor.
· The chosen champions are ordinary men and women working in diverse fields from political science, finance, entertainment, HR and advertising. These young adults will share their stories of the mistakes they made in their teenage years and the advice they are now be able to share with their younger mentees.
· Instant Grass Marketing appointed the 150 mentors and will oversee their duties of rallying community engagement.
o Instant Grass manages and represents communities of the most connected, informed and influential young people across the African continent. The company has sourced the mentors for the new 18+ campaign.
· The mentors will be active on their social networks, on and offline, sharing stories of how they have influenced their younger peers and siblings.
About 18+
· Launched in 2014, 18+ targets adults with a call to action for them to join the fight against underage drinking and discourage underage youths from drinking alcohol.
· The initiative aims to drive education among adults on the topic of underage drinking and its dangers and consequences.
· The call to action is for adults to be good role models and have open communication with the youth – whether they are our own children or someone else’s.
· The key messages of the campaign are:
o “it takes a village to raise a child”
o it is not okay to allow your underage teenager to drink (even in your presence),
o It is not okay to take him/her to a pub
o It is not ok to send him/her to a shebeen to purchase your alcohol for you.
Tools and Mechanics
· The campaign asks the public to say no to underage drinking and make a pledge against underage drinking.
· 18+ provides adults with tools to engage with their teenagers via open communication and family recreational activities (be an involved parent/caregiver).
o The five 18+ conversation guides to help parents, can be downloaded from www.sabstories.(co.za) covering:
1. How to start the conversation
2. Alcohol responsibility at social gatherings
3. How to empower your child
4. Behaviour to look out for in preventing underage drinking
5. How to have a conversation about alcohol with teens on the cusp of turning 18
· The campaign’s message has been carried through radio, outdoor, community- and social media with addition support from South African media personalities Melanie Bala and Robert Marawa as ambassadors.
A Mentor Guide to help South Africans “Be the Mentor you wish you’d had” can also be found at this same link.
Context for 18+
· As a leading alcoholic beverage company in South Africa, the South African Breweries (SAB) takes responsible drinking and the fight against alcohol abuse very seriously and has initiated several programmes to address aspects of the issue.
· The underage programme forms part of SAB’s wider strategy to tackle alcohol abuse, which includes targeted interventions such as Alcohol Evidence Centres and NICRO (a corrective behavioural programme for drunk driving offenders).
· The company spends in excess of R40 million annually on initiatives which aim to combat the abuse of drinking and encourage responsible consumption.
Facts:
· Teenagers’ brains are still developing and even limited alcohol consumption stunts their psychological and physical development.
· The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) stated in a 2010 publication that most studies show the benefits from allowing children to drink in the home or controlled environment are non-existent. In the same report, NIAAA cites a 1997 article from the Journal of Substance Abuse that says that starting to drink earlier increases the chances of developing alcohol problems.
· Statistics indicate that one out of every two teenagers in the average South African home has used alcohol.
Other SAB Youth Targeted campaigns to prevent underage drinking:
YOU DECIDE
About
· In 2012, SAB launched its outreach programme called You Decide, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and provincial Departments of Education.
· The purpose of the programme is to raise awareness amongst the youth and their broader communities, about the dangers and consequences of underage drinking.
Mechanics/ tools:
· Through targeted inventions, it reaches the youth as well as parents, teachers, retailers and community.
· The main component of the programme is an interactive industrial theatre roadshow that activates at high schools nationally.
· The pitfalls of underage drinking are demonstrated through performances performance based on recognisable social settings for teenagers to – these include the two main drivers of teen drinking (social acceptance and escape from home & personal worries).
· It also provides them with tools on how to say “no” to peers through the “no, yes, no” technique.
· Since inception, You Decide has visited over 512 000 teenagers in over 963 schools.
· Teens, parents and teachers are all supplied material on the subject in the form of “Tips for Teens” and “A Guide for Parents” booklets.
· To support the same message delivered to teenagers via the industrial theatre roadshow, workshops are held and open to teachers and members of the community.
· You Decide promoters engage and supply the same material booklets at these workshops.
Results:
· You Decide has helped generate an 8,3% (in relative terms) drop in teen drinking in communities touched
· 1, 156 schools have been visited in five provinces by You Decide (this is as of 22 May 2015)
· 591, 899 learners have received the You Decide message face-to-face (this is as of 22 May 2015)
· The You Decide programme reaches teens and communities through taxi activations, murals, community workshops and many more touch points
· The two main drivers of teen drinking are: 1. Social acceptance, 2. Escape from worries (home and personal)
· In some provinces (like Gauteng*) 86% of teens as young as 14 are drinking
* YRU/UNISA Substance Abuse Survey, 2012
Visit: www.youdecide.org.za
FUTURE LEADERS
About:
· Launched in 2013, Future Leaders is an extension of the You Decide programme with an expanded national audience of millions of South Africans.
· Broadcast on SABC1, Future Leaders is a 13-part reality TV show that follows the lives of five South African teenagers as they become agents of change in underage drinking.
· The teenagers, from different walks of life, have previously experimented with alcohol. The teenagers’ awareness of the devastation underage drinking has had in their communities inspires them to make a real difference and become role models for their peers. They are tasked to create practical sustainable recreational projects that will help curb underage drinking in their communities. Their desire to pursue their dreams with the help of parents, teachers, broader community members, relevant NGOs and government institutions, comes with many trials and tribulations, which holds valuable life lessons for them and the audience.
· Each of them is mentored and coached by a finalist of the highly successful and popular One Day Leader programme on SABC 1.
· Season one of Future Leaders was broadcast in 2013, Season two in 2014 and Season three in 2015.
Text and information provided by SAB Media and communications
