Police monitor underage drinking during end-of-school weekend

Most of the school end-of-term and graduation events will be held across the country on Saturday prompting the police to closely monitor the use of intoxicants by the youths.

Police will engage in intensified surveillance of the consumption of intoxicants by the young. The controls focus on the young persons’ consumption of alcoholic beverages and drugs, said the National Police Board.

The particular focus of the control operations is on the places where the young gather, such as children’s playgrounds as well as day-care centre and school yards.

The controls take place in many localities in collaboration with the departments of youth and social services as well as with the alcohol inspectors employed by the Regional State Administrative Agency.

The Police remind the young that if a person under 18 years of age is found to consume alcohol, their parents and the child welfare will be informed. In most cases, there will also be a 40 euro fixed petty fine.

The controls aim at preventing the supply of alcoholic beverages to the minors as well as the illegal possession and use of alcohol by the underage themselves. The Police will also intervene, as usual, with other disturbances and disorderly drunkenness in public places.

Supplying the underage with alcohol is a criminal offence. In fact, the Police appeals those of age not to supply alcohol to anyone who is underage.

Organised since 2010, the intensive controls during these weekends have ended with the Police confiscating about 2 000 to 2500 litres of various alcoholic beverages. Every year, the Police has had to file some 700 to 1200 child welfare reports.

“However, the numbers of alcohol possession violations and child welfare reports have shown a decreasing trend during the past few years, and we naturally hope that this development would persist,” Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board Ari Järvenpää said.

Based on the experiences gained by the Police, the school’s-out weekend is the time many children and young make their first experiments with alcohol.

Unaccustomed users are not able to estimate the amount and impacts of the alcohol consumed, and they may end up having an alcohol poisoning.

“An intoxicated child or young person also faces a higher risk of falling victim of crimes and various drunken accidents,” Järvenpää added.

Parents are always responsible for their children, the young and their movements and doings. Therefore, the Police instruct the parents of the young preparing for the school’s out parties to agree on clear ground rules with the children for the partying, and to stay connected with the children throughout the evening and night.