A Sign of the Times?

However, news that the sign was going to be painted out has not come as a surprise to the people responsible for it.  The iconic signage was unveiled by Mayor Peter Tennent in 2002 at the start of a region wide campaign to get people to think twice before supplying alcohol to teens.

Inspector Fiona Prestidge was part of the Taranaki Youth Access to Alcohol coalition that ran the campaign.  She says it was developed in response to research showing that young people aged 14 – 18 years of age were drinking more since the purchase age was lowered in 1999.  “We knew that a lot of these younger drinkers were being supplied by parents and older friends.  We also knew that there was an increase in binge drinking in that age group so this was an attempt to encourage adults to be responsible by not buying alcohol for younger teens.”

Mrs Prestidge says the campaign was very successful at the time in getting the issue into the open and getting people to discuss it.  However, raising awareness about this issue is only one part of the solution.    “New Zealand’s drinking culture is pretty persistent and encourages binge drinking.  A third of all police apprehensions involve alcohol but there is a review of alcohol laws happening now which we hope will lead to significant improvement.”

“Law and policy changes like raising the purchase age, raising prices and reducing access are more effective than education alone.  There was a real need for awareness raising at the time the sign went up but we feel it’s time for a change now.”

Mrs Prestidge says a new community safety message is being planned for the wall by the Taranaki Safe Families Trust.  It will be unveiled in late November to coincide with White Ribbon Day, a national campaign to stop violence towards women.