Copos... Quem Decide és Tu!

 Copos... Quem Decide és Tu. (Drinks…You Decide!) - Project that work in close relation with schools, promoting non-formal education methods and tools for responsible alcohol consumption.

Finally, one description - that says it all. Actually, there is not that much to add, but of course, I will add.

Copos... Quem Decide és Tu!, first of all, is a project that is running in the national level and is happening all around the Portugal, so probably other Red Cross Youth Departments could also share their stories what Copos... Quem Decide és Tu! is for them, but today, as lately, it will be my interpretation.

This project, as written above, is being realized in the schools like +Atitude or some actions of Geração Tecla, but of course it is different. Copos... Quem Decide és Tu! is a project about alcohol consumption so the target group is older students.

What I like about Copos... Quem Decide és Tu! is that it is not like your parent telling you what not to do or what to do, but letting you decide what is better for you. It’s not about stopping youth from consuming alcohol, because it’s obvious it is not going to happen, but more like teaching them how to consume alcohol with moderation.

As all the projects they have the theoretical part, when they explain youth what are the consequences of drinking too much alcohol and what to take in consideration while drinking (to drink water between the cups of alcohol, know your limits, and etc.).

Another part is way more interesting – the practical part. I like it a lot, because they try to show the youth what are the consequences of drinking while playing games. They have several games and normally the session takes around 3-4 hours, but it is so fun, that neither you nor they want to stop. One of the games is imitating a Night Out, with all the parts, from going for a coffee, dinner, a bar for a drink after, a disco and finally fast food bar on the way home, where you can still drink some things. After every time someone takes a drink (they just say, no one really gives them drinks!) we tight their hands or legs or block their vision, to show how the alcohol will affect them, and in every place they visit after taking a drink or not, they need to do some tasks, that seems impossible after being tight up!

It’s a great project, for the youth to understand the consequences of drinking. No one is saying that you cannot drink, just ways how to drink, that you and your friends would have a great night!     

Gi