Teenagers And Alcohol

A recent Church of Scotland report says that alcoholism has reached "almost epidemic" proportions in Scotland. Twenty-five years ago the youngest member of Alcoholics Anonymous in Glasgow was thirty-eight years of age: "Now there are two separate groups for teenagers". One study showed that 98 per cent of boys in Glasgow were drinking regularly at the age of seventeen, and 96 per cent of girls.

The report calls for "a radical reappraisal of attitudes to drink, stricter controls on advertising, and more compulsory health education on the subject in primary and secondary schools".

Underlining the menace of teenage drinking is the disclosure by the headmaster of the famous Gordonstoun School, Mr John Kempe, that at the end of last term a letter was sent to every parent of boys at the school warning of the dangerous drinking problem there. This is the school at which Prince Andrew is a pupil. A copy of the letter was sent to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, but the headmaster made clear that the 16-year-old Prince had never been involved in drinking sessions at the school.

In other areas of the United Kingdom the prevalence of teenage drinking is similar to that in Scotland. It is a nationwide canker. Derek Rutherford, National Council on Alcoholism Director, says, "If we cannot control young people's drinking in the next few years, the problem will be enormous. We are on the brink of a very serious situation indeed." A similar warning has

been issued on Merseyside where an official stated that alcoholism is a problem twenty times greater than drugs.

Last autumn the Government set up a new advisory committee on alcoholism under the chairmanship of Professor Neil of Manchester University. One of its subcommittees will be examining specifically the problem of the young alcoholic. No doubt the committee will also investigate advertising methods which link drink with manliness. Such advertising is barred in many countries and there are many who regard its prevalence in Britain as a public scandal.

This serious trend in the social life of the nation places an urgent obligation on parents and on Christian workers among young people. Alcohol is a subject which can no longer be sidestepped. The physical and moral consequences of early addiction can be devastating. There are frequent reports in the Press of tragic incidents at teenage drinking parties. One such is before me as I write. It occurred at an exclusive public school and resulted in the death of a sixteen-year-old fifth former. Tests showed that the boy had a blood-alcohol level of 132.

Many workers among young people would value information on authentic literature on this problem, and advice on how best to approach it from a Christian point of view. If anyone with specialized knowledge in this field would supply information of this nature publicity would be willingly given to it here.

A "Trophy of Grace"

It has been reported in the Press that Mitsuo Fichida, the sole surviving officer of the infamous Japanese Pearl Harbour attack which brought the United States into the 1939-1945 war, died a few weeks ago in hospital. Shortly after the war he retired from Naval service and devoted himself to farming. He also wrote the book No More Pearl Harbour.

It was about that time that he became a Christian. One day, at a railway station in Tokyo, he was handed a gospel tract and this led him to contact the Pocket Testament League. He was deeply touched when he read the story of Christ's sufferings in John's Gospel and was led to the Saviour. His confession was, "I opened my heart and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour on April 14,1950."

Later Fuchida travelled widely under the auspices of the Pocket Testament League and eventually resettled in Japan to bring the gospel to his own people. After twenty-five years as an atheistic bomber pilot he became, in the words of those who knew him best, a real "trophy of grace."

Here is yet another testimony to the value of Christian literature and an encouragement to those who engage in its distribution. One wonders how many other "trophies of grace", less famous than this one, will meet around the throne of God in heaven in that glorious coming day!

unknown | Aug 1976
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