Too much pocket money, social class status and poor parental guidance are to blame for the increase in underage drinking in schools, head teachers have said.
They spoke during the launch of the Kenya Breweries ‘Under 18 Asipewe’ campaign in Machakos, which discourages underage drinking.
In Kenya, the legal drinking age is 18.
The principals said peer pressure, stress and entertainment have also aggravated the problem.
Jimmy Agutu, the organising secretary of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Migori branch, said children from single-parent families are more likely to drink alcohol.
Most single mothers from rural areas brew illicit alcohol as an income generating activity, hence influencing the youth, he said.
The event also highlighted the popular drinks among students, which include spirits and beers.
The campaign aims to train more than 1,000 secondary school heads how to prevent students from taking alcohol.
The campaign began in March 2015 with a focus on empowering retailers to understand the negative consequences of selling alcohol to children.
Some 6,825 retail staff from 5,377 retail outlets have been trained.
KBL’s corporate relations director Eric Kiniti said the goal is to provide a collaborative platform to curb underage drinking.
“We realise that curbing underage drinking is a task that requires collaborative efforts of not only manufacturers, retailers and regulators, but also the critical and personalised guidance role that teachers play,” he said.
“We believe that engaging teachers in this campaign is fundamental to contributing towards achieving this goal.”
A study by Ipsos Synovate last year showed that 26.5 per cent of secondary school students have their first alcoholic drink between the ages of 14 and 16.
It further revealed that 23.2 per cent of the students have their first alcoholic drink aged below 12.
