ARA launches a new booklet

The Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA) has launched a booklet entitled Teenagers and alcohol - a practical guide. The aim of the booklet is to ‘assist parents in initiating conversations with their children about alcohol related issues’. While the most pressing alcohol-related problems in the Western Cape would be regarded by many to be the endemic alcoholism amongst, particularly, working-class agriculrtual communities, this booklet is being introduced as a pilot project into some of the richest schools in Cape Town, and was produced by one of the most prestigious, through the Bishops Support Unit. Funding and support came from the ARA.

The ARA is a non-profit organisation focusing on the prevention of the negative consequences of alcohol abuse. The primary targets for its interventions are, broadly, ‘young people and those adults who are vulnerable and most at risk of suffering the negative consequences of alcohol abuse and misuse. The ARA's interventions are usually conducted in partnership with other stakeholders who share similar objectives.’

Adrian Botha, spokesperson for the ARA, said that the organisation is ‘keen to see this booklet in as many homes as possible. It is timeous as a number of incidents have brought alcohol abuse into the national consciousness’.