Early alcohol use among pre-adolescents and related risk of future abuse was the central topic addressed by the CUT! project context analysis as part of the iceberg of a larger problem, where the underlying issues were the youngsters distress, difficulties in personal and/or group acceptance, discrimination, segregation, emotional and physical turmoil, etc. Within the context the general aim of the CUT! Project was to limit the use and abuse of alcohol among adolescents by focusing on early prevention starting at pre-adolescence age and a strong awareness rising addressed to the overall educational community. To achieve the ambitious goal the project set three specific objectives: - Raising awareness on the issue of alcohol abuse, both among pre-adolescents and adults of reference through highly communicative tools (SO 1). - Preventing risky behaviors eventually leading to alcohol abuse, developing guidance material for educators highlighting possible risk factors and suggesting effective solutions on how to tackle them (SO2). - Developing policy makers response strategies to tackle the issue of alcohol abuse among pre-adolescents, through the production of recommendations for systemic interventions (SO3).
The motivation of the CUT! project was and is deeply rooted in the evidence that alcohol abuse is a hideous threat for the young population, not only from the health care point of view, but as from the potential disruptive effect on their social behavior. The analysis of the context revealed that the increasing anticipation with which youngsters get in touch with alcohol, is a strong signal for future risks of abuse and highlighted how multifaceted factors such as identity formation, adherence to societal norms, fear of exclusion, bullying, rites of passage, and defiance against authority is potentially contributing to adolescents engaging in alcohol abuse. To effectively cut the numbers of youngsters affected by the phenomenon the project identified the need of: - Preventive measures and awareness initiatives to be started as early as pre-adolescence. - Enhancing the proficiency of educators and psychological support personnel employed in secondary schools to effectively and early handle students at risks - Key decision and policymakers developing a higher level of awareness for nurturing a healthy educational trajectory for preadolescents and create a synergic effort for preventing diffusion of alcohol abuse among them.