If the kids have nothing to do, then give them something to do

Ever hear people moaning about the youth of today ? Of course you do. And the more sympathetic ones will probably say, "it's because they've got nothing to do", or "I blame the parents". And they're probably right. Iceland has gone-all out to give the kids things to do - things they actually enjoy - instead of just droning on about the dangers of drugs, to the extent of giving them £250 per year to spend on recreational activities (I presume this is a voucher, not cash). The scheme also educates and encourages parents to spend much more time with their children. On the more punitive side, it's instituted after-dark late night curfews for the under 16s and restricted sales of alcohol to the over 20s (though I guess the latter is pretty liberal for Americans). The results ? Sometimes, common sense is bang on.

Today, Iceland tops the European table for the cleanest-living teens. The percentage of 15- and 16-year-olds who had been drunk in the previous month plummeted from 42 per cent in 1998 to 5 per cent in 2016. The percentage who have ever used cannabis is down from 17 per cent to 7 per cent. Those smoking cigarettes every day fell from 23 per cent to just 3 per cent.

I can't see all of the Icelandic measures being implemented everywhere, but I'd hope at least some of the techniques could be widely adopted. The nice thing is that it fits into a lot of pre-existing narratives about how to deal with youth problems; the only "radical" thing here is the finding that warnings about drug addiction are not enough. But really by now that should be self-evident.

https://mosaicscience.com/story/iceland-prevent-teen-substance-abuse