SPAIN: Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centers launch new educational campaign for the prevention of alcohol consumption
(MissionNewswire) The Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centers in collaboration with Salesian missionaries and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have launched, “Pasaporte 0,0,” a program to prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors in Spain. Alcohol is the most consumed and socially accepted drug in the country due to the low risk perception that exists. It is also often a prelude to the consumption of other substances with the same harmful effects on a person’s health.
The Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centers launched the “Pasaporte 0,0” campaign as part of its health education guidelines. The initiative is aimed at adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17, especially those at risk of social exclusion whose situation may cause them to be particularly vulnerable to drug use and addiction.
The campaign, funded by the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, aims to combat the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors through prevention and education.
The “Pasaporte 0,0” app, downloadable from Google Play, was created with the intention of being an educational tool that can be used by both educators and adolescents. Its design and development involved youth, parents, social mediators and technical staff.
Complementing the app, other materials have been developed to support activities to prevent alcohol consumption in minors. All these materials are available on the website that was created for the campaign and program. The website gives more information about the programs and provides materials for all organizations that want to use them in their prevention activities.
“Consuming alcohol can be a temptation for youth that can lead them down a road that is not good for their health and can cause them to be more at-risk within their environments,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions. “This new program is providing youth the skills they need most to overcome the challenges in their families and communities and stay away from alcohol. Prevention is key but the project helps to meet youth wherever they are and direct them onto a path for success in the future.”
The campaign was launched on May 7 with a presentation at the Don Bosco Youth Center in the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid. Youth from the center were the first to download the educational campaign app on their smartphones and to start learning about “Pasaporte 0,0.”
Close to 37 percent of young Spanish workers under the age of 25 are unemployed and a growing number of them can’t afford to buy enough food to live. Poor youth with few employable skills struggle the most to find and retain stable employment. Women in Spain face inequality in the workforce. They earn up to 14 percent less than men and represent only 34.5 percent of those listed as the highest earners in Spain.
Salesian missionaries have been working for many years to provide educational and workforce development opportunities for poor youth and women in Spain through residential and technical and vocational training programs.
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World Bank – Spain
