Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? Drinking alcohol makes you happy. Fact and Fiction • In small doses alcohol can make you relaxed and happy, but too much of it can increase anxiety and stress, rather than reduce it. • Alcohol can affect your judgement, sometimes leads to depression and has been linked to self-harm and suicide in young people. Start the lesson by showing students statements about alcohol on the PPT. Students need to decide whether they think the statement is fact or fiction. This will help you gauge student’s current understanding on alcohol and allow you to challenge any misconceptions they have.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? A glass of wine has the same number of calories as a couple of biscuits Fact! There are 124 calories in a 175ml glass of wine (12% ABV), equivalent to two plain digestive biscuits.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? Less than half of young people aged 16 and over drink alcohol Fact • Lots of young people choose not to drink. This might be because of their religion, or because they decide they don’t want to. In fact, 61% of 11–15 year-olds have never drunk alcohol. • The Government advises that young people should not drink alcohol before they’re 15, if at all. If 15–17 year olds choose to drink, they should do so infrequently and definitely on no more than one day a week. • This should be no more than the daily recommended guidelines for adults (3–4 units for men and 2–3 units for women). Not drinking is the healthiest option for young people.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? It’s OK to drive if you’ve only had a couple of drinks • It’s not. There is a legal limit to how much one can drink when driving but there is no foolproof way of drinking and staying under the limit. There are different limits between Scotland and England, Wales and Northern Ireland. • The amount of alcohol you would need to drink to be considered over the driving limit varies from person to person. It depends on: • your weight • your gender (men tend to process alcohol faster than women) • your metabolism • the type and amount you’re drinking • your current stress levels • whether you’ve eaten recently • age (younger people tend to process alcohol more slowly). • Even small amounts of alcohol can affect your ability to drive, so the only safe advice is to avoid any alcohol if you are driving. Anyone who gets caught driving over the limit will automatically lose their licence for a year, get a hefty fine and a criminal record.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? If you’ve had too much to drink, a black coffee will sober you up Fiction • Alcohol is a diuretic and dehydrates the body. Coffee will make someone who is already dehydrated even more so. Severe dehydration can cause permanent brain damage. • Your body takes about one hour to process each unit of alcohol. The advice would be to drink water and fresh juice to give yourself a vitamin boost while you wait for the alcohol to pass through your system.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? If you drink a glass of water before you go to sleep you won’t get a hangover Fiction • Unfortunately not, though it’s always a good idea to drink plenty of water. If you alternate soft drinks or water with alcoholic ones, however, you’ll reduce your chances of getting a hangover. • You should also avoid alcohol on an empty stomach. Food helps slow down the rate your body absorbs alcohol.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? You sleep baldly when you’ve been drinking Fact • A lot of people think alcohol helps you sleep, but you’re actually far more likely to have disturbed sleep when you’ve been drinking.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? There is more alcohol in a can of extra strong cider than in a double vodka Fact • There are close to four units in a can of strong cider, but around two in the vodka.

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? Drinking when you’re young won’t affect your long-term health Fiction • Drinking under the age of 18 can be dangerous to your health. Young people who drink regularly are at risk of liver damage, which can lead to long-term problems. • In Britain, people in their twenties have died as a result of alcoholic liver disease.3 The Chief Medical Officer advises that not drinking is the healthiest option for young people

Alcohol – Fact or Fiction? You’re more likely to get into dangerous situations when you’re drunk Fact • In puberty, young people are more likely to experiment and take risks. Drinking alcohol can put young people in vulnerable or dangerous situations. • For example, if you are under 16 years old and drunk, even just once, you are 85% more likely to be involved in violence.

Alcohol Learning Objective: To explore the issues surrounding alcohol. I can explain what it meant by the term binge drinking. I can give examples of the effects of binge drinking. I can give advice on how to stay safe if drinking alcohol.

What is binge drinking? How much alcohol would you need to consume for it to class as binge drinking? What is binge drinking? Because everybody is different, it is not easy to say exactly how many units in one session count as binge drinking. The definition used by the Office of National Statistics for binge drinking is having over 8 units in a single session for men and over 6 units per women. The NHS defines binge drinking as “drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk”. Ask students ‘what is binge drinking’ and ‘how much alcohol would you need to consume for it to count as binge drinking?’ Take feedback then show the NHS definitions. Then show how many units are in common drinks such as cider, wine, larger and alcopops. Students can then work out how many of each drink someone could have for it to class as binge drinking. Also emphasise to students that the binge drinking guidelines are only estimates as each person is different.

Binge Drinking Watch the first part of the BBC3 documentary ‘Ready, steady, drink’ and think about the following questions: Why is it important to keep track of how much you are drinking? Is this binge drinking according to the NHS definition? Show the first 15 minutes of the BBC documentary ‘Ready, Steady, Drink’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRklm_TZqY which explores the binge drinking culture at universities. As students are watching thy need to be thinking about the questions on the PPT (is this binge drinking according to the NHS definition, what is their attitude towards alcohol, why is it important to keep track of how much you are drinking, what effects can binge drinking have?) What is their attitude towards alcohol? What effects can binge drinking have? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRklm_TZqY

Alcohol Learning Objective: To explore the issues surrounding alcohol. I can explain what it meant by the term binge drinking. I can give examples of the effects of binge drinking. I can give advice on how to stay safe if drinking alcohol.

Draw this quadrant in your books: The Effects of Alcohol What effects can binge drinking have? Can affect the way you think/feel/behave Having accidents Hangovers Draw this quadrant in your books: Increased chance of cancer, heart disease, liver disease Taking unsafe risks, e.g. unprotected sex, breaking the law Short term physical effects (that night and the next day) Long term physical effects Self harm Alcohol poisoning Nausea or throwing up Dehydration Students now need to start thinking about the different effects alcohol can have. Ask students to draw a quadrant over a page in their books and write the headings short term effects, long term effects, risky behaviour, effects of emotional and mental health. Students then need to organise the different effects alcohol can have from the PPT slide into the their quadrant. Risky Behaviour Effects on mental and emotional health Memory loss and blackouts Depression Putting on weight Anxiety Getting into fights Your looks suffer (bad skin, bloodshot eyes) Relationship and family problems

What effects can binge drinking have? The Effects of Alcohol What effects can binge drinking have? Go through the answers with students

Why is it important to keep track of how much you are drinking? Keeping Track Why is it important to keep track of how much you are drinking? You can download the Drink Aware app for free which allows you to easily record how many drinks/units you have had. Explain to students that we have seen from the documentary how important it is to keep track of how much alcohol you are consuming. Explain that there is a free app from Drink Aware that they can download to help them do this.

Alcohol Learning Objective: To explore the issues surrounding alcohol. I can explain what it meant by the term binge drinking. I can give examples of the effects of binge drinking. I can give advice on how to stay safe if drinking alcohol.

Fresher's Guide to Alcohol Skim and scan the information on ‘Top tips for staying safe if you plan to drink’. You are going to use this create your own ‘University Fresher’s Guide to Alcohol’ informing people about the do’s and don’ts of keeping safe. Try to come up with 10 summarised top tips that you think are the most important for people to be aware of. Hand out to students the guide on ‘Top tips for staying safe if you plan to drink’. Students need to skim and scan the guide for the key pieces of advice and information. Students then need to create their own ‘University Fresher’s Guide to Alcohol’ informing people about how to keep safe. They need to try and come up with 10 summarised top tips that they think are the most important things people need to be aware of.

Alcohol Learning Objective: To explore the issues surrounding alcohol. I can explain what it meant by the term binge drinking. I can give examples of the effects of binge drinking. I can give advice on how to stay safe if drinking alcohol.