Phone films teach drink dangers

Young people were sent films to their mobile phones

A campaign which used short films sent to teenagers' mobile phones to warn of the dangers of alcohol has had positive results, a Cornish charity has said.

About 1,000 young people took part in the project, run by Penzance-based charity Trelya.

They were sent humorous and hard-hitting videos depicting the possible effects of drinking too much.

The charity said the "majority" of the participants said it made them reconsider their attitude to alcohol.

Avoiding risk

Rachel Martin, the project co-ordinator, said: "We found that young people thought it was cool, they loved getting videos on their phones.

"The majority of them said it made them think about their decisions regarding alcohol.

"It made them think about alcohol in relation to personal safety, sexual conduct and how to avoid risk."

She said Trelya, which uses arts-based projects to work with children at risk of social exclusion, is keen to roll the films-to-mobiles scheme out across the whole of Cornwall and perhaps even nationally.

The initial trial took place from February until May 2008.