Twinkle, twinkle, little star, is alcoplay a step too far?

To visit one of the seven East Lothian schools piloting a new scheme to promote alcohol awareness through role-play, you might be forgiven for thinking someone had spiked the children’s milk and biscuits. The programme, Alcohol Interactive, was devised by two former Queen Margaret University drama students, Kimberley Bale and Kirsty Hunt. The pair developed the idea based on the premise that children would be more receptive to this engaging method of education, and thus more likely to absorb its serious message.

The first - and slightly surprising - thing to note is that these children are only 10 or 11 years old. A slight on their innocence, surely? Why are they not sitting in the beanbag corner reading Narnia tales and modelling Play-Doh? The fact that my computer is currently trying to autocorrect Play-Doh into Playboy is perhaps a poignant reminder that the world is not as innocent as it once seemed. According to a recent survey by the Scottish government, just over 51 per cent of young people admitted to regularly drinking alcohol when they were just thirteen. These year sevens are not naïve: they are all too aware that Mum isn't drinking Ribena - and moreover that they’d get more than just a sugar rush if they copied her.

So 300 school children across the region found themselves revisiting the dressing up box and digging out some glasses and a corkscrew. Ms Bale explains that, "We used different methods to encourage children to feedback their understanding of alcohol while also helping them to learn about what is socially acceptable and what behaviours can lead to negative situations." Among the various scenarios are adults drinking at a dinner party; a family enjoying alcohol at a wedding; teenagers getting drunk in the park and drinking games getting out of hand in a nightclub.

On the face of it, the scheme seems vaguely absurd. One would hope, if naively, that these children wouldn’t be setting foot in a nightclub for another eight years. I’m distracted by the vision of them replacing the annual nativity with a coordinated Eminem ensemble… “So crack a bottle, let your body waddle,” as 30 ten-year-olds lurch across the stage. However, there is a valid point to the method. Children are sick of just being told "no": it doesn’t register. To get involved in a dramatic process is certainly more stimulating, and one would hope more effective in getting the message through. Irvine Allan, the assessor of the scheme and a drama lecturer at QMU commented: "The students were very skilled at encouraging pupils to engage in the work and creating opportunity for open discussion. The feedback from participating schools was excellent with teachers very clearly seeing the benefits of the project." The teachers seem to have approved the technique, though it is hard to measure any tangible benefit at this stage.

Though innovative, the initiative is fraught with risks. In turning life into drama, it becomes accessible - but it may also become trivialised. In the very act of making alcohol into theatre it creates entertainment. The advantages in broadening the children’s drink consciousness are obvious. Yet if they find some of their friends performances amusing, which is very likely, the project becomes a farce. There will always be that child, vying for their seat in the comedy club, turning the whole process into a hilarious charade and in turn making the scheme a comedy of errors. Acting out alcohol was fun; drinking it must be too.

A number of organisations are already voicing concerns over Alcohol Interactive. Alison Todd, director of children and family services at the charity Children 1st, told Scotland on Sunday that: "Great care must be taken when embarking on this type of work. The materials presented may invoke strong feelings or memories for young people who have had negative experiences relating to alcohol and this needs to be handled with sensitivity. It is vitally important to ensure that these young people are safeguarded and that the immediate and adequate support is provided." Indeed there are many for whom Alcohol Interactive may be just a little too close to home. A child growing up under the strain of alcohol abuse could well find having scenes from a turbulent home life re-enacted at school a harrowing and distressing experience. But perhaps it is the closeness of alcohol to home that means the problem cannot be ignored or bubble-wrapped.

The idea becomes more interesting and also more complicated when we take it out of its fairly conservative East Lothian trial area. Introducing it on a national or even international scale again drags up questions of efficacy. How would primary school children who had been particularly exposed to alcohol - for example, those from inner-city areas where drinking on the streets is commonplace - handle it? Would they just act-up in a way that was detrimental to the aim of addressing a serious subject? Once again the element of acting creates a very real risk: of sensationalising drink; making it amusing and making it appealing. That is not to say education shouldn’t be fun, but it is part of children’s copycat culture to imitate. They see drinking on television and they copy it. They see drinking in class and why not copy it again? These children know alcohol; they’ve seen it already. The words of warning are forgotten but the action remains. Allowing children to interact and giving them the chance to participate is valuable educative resource. But is play-acting really enough to put children off?