In Satakunta (Finland), a week-long “Don’t pass on” campaign is starting to remind adults not to buy or give alcohol to children or young people. The campaign comes as the weekend of 4 June marks the end of school holidays across the province.

The first weekend in June is a more common time for young people to drink alcohol, as they celebrate the end of school and the start of the summer holidays. For some young people, the celebrations are associated with low alcohol products and some young people are interested in trying alcohol during the end-of-term weekend. The campaign is raising awareness among adults about the harmful effects of passing on alcohol on the health and safety of minors. The campaign also reminds adults that it is always illegal to supply alcohol and nicotine products to minors. During the campaign week, more attention will be paid in shops in the province to checking the age when purchasing alcoholic products and to immediately intervene when products are passed on to minors.

“We hope that the campaign will stimulate discussion between parents and young people about alcohol use during the end of school weekend. It is up to all of us adults to take care of the safety and well-being of young people,” says Leena Koivisto, Deputy Youth Work Coordinator at the City of Rauma Youth Services.

The campaign will be carried out by sharing videos on the social media channels of several different actors between 30 May and 3 June. The videos have been produced by many actors in the Satakunta region who care about the well-being of young people, such as grocery stores, the police and rescue services and local sportsmen and women. The videos will be published on the social media channels of the participating municipalities and other partners. Updates can be found under the tags älävälitä, #suojelenuorta, #selväsatakunta ja #ept.

Find more from Satakunnan hyvinvointialue (Finland, May 2022)