Hayley - Interview 10
Age at interview: 17
Brief Outline: Hayley lives in a small village and thinks that the reason why young people drink alcohol and/or do drugs there is because they are bored and there is nothing else for them to do. She thinks that the situation would be improved if there were other activities like youth centres or the cinema (with tickets at a reduced price) available. She also thinks better communication between parents and their teenage children would help.
Background: Hayley lives with mum and dad and sibling in a small town in the North of England. She is finishing college next year and plans to go to university to study either occupational therapy or social work. She describes herself as white British.
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In Hayley’s village, many of her friends used to drink on the street. She didn’t join in because she knew that the police patrolled the area and anyone caught drinking underage was cautioned and a letter was sent to their parents. Her parents didn’t approve of young people drinking in public and the thought of her parents getting a letter from the police put her off the idea completely. Though she often turned down her friends’ invitations to join them for a drink, she never felt singled out or bullied.
Hayley’s experiences of drinking alcohol have mostly been at home with her family. From the age of 14 she has been able to invite her friends and have a drink in the house or at special family occasions. She says that she drinks in moderation and hasn’t ‘binge drank’ ever. For her, alcohol is good when wanting to ‘chill out’ but not to use it to get drunk. Hayley is very anti-drugs and has never tried any of them.
Hayley mostly goes out with family and close friends and prefers to go to her local pubs than to the city centre that she describes as the place where ‘all the fighting goes on’ at weekends. She works part-time and says that she doesn’t have enough money to go out often. When out with her boyfriend they tend to mainly spend time with other couples they know.
Hayley says that her parents rarely drink and when they do, it's mainly on holiday with friends. She describes her parents as ‘happy people when drunk’ and never quarrelling or violent.
Most of the information and advice about drugs and alcohol has come from them and from her school.
Hayley lives in a small village and thinks that the reason why young people drink alcohol and/or do drugs there is because they are bored and there is nothing else for them to do. She thinks that the situation would be improved if there were other activities like youth centres or the cinema (with tickets at a reduced price) available. She also thinks better communication between parents and their teenage children would help.
Hayley first started drinking with her parents.
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Hayley first started drinking with her parents.
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If they [teenagers] want to drink they should have, they should go and talk to their parents and like I started off just having a quiet drink in with me mum and dad. They know what you’re drinking. They can watch you. If they know you’re going to start going a bit funny they can stop it from happening. And I just think with drugs they just need to say, ‘No’. They don’t need to take them. They’re just, it’s just for that look at me. That’s why people do it a lot of times I think.
Hayley was offered cannabis once and refused it. She thinks Customs should do more to keep illegal drugs from getting into the UK.
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Hayley was offered cannabis once and refused it. She thinks Customs should do more to keep illegal drugs from getting into the UK.
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Have you ever been offered drugs?
A joint, like a draw off it, a joint. I’m like, ‘No I don’t want it.’ And then that’s when we moved away from that lad. I mean he didn’t force it on us. He just said, ‘Oh do you want to try some of it. We said, ‘No’. He said, ‘Alright then that’s fine.’
Ok but you sort of moved away?
Yeah
But not by people, not by dealers?
No never by dealers.
Ok so it’s very limited, your experience? [laugh]
Yeah [laugh].
Ok and you just basically think that is not something that?
It just doesn’t appeal to me. I mean you see, you hear about people when they go around town. I mean you hear it on news all the time there’s new drugs coming out they can bring more, like that new one that’s out. I don’t know what it’s called that’s coming over. It can get through customs and it’s like, well why, it’s customs and things like that that need to knuckle down on it so it can’t happen anymore.