YWCA England & Wales

what we do

Lorna

Lorna is 15 years old and lives in a village in South Wales.

There isn’t really much to do around here so sometimes me and my mates have a drink round each other’s houses. We usually wait until our parents go to out so we won’t get into trouble.

I first tried alcohol when I was 12. It’s really easy to get hold of the stuff. There are lots of people you can get alcohol and cigarettes from around here. One of my mates got served in an off-licence and didn’t get asked for ID. She’s 16.

Drinking makes you feel more relaxed and a bit loopy. We start falling over and making fun of each other.

Two of my mates drink every weekend. One friend got drunk in the park and we were really worried in case something happened. She was hanging about with a real bad crowd. Another friend got really drunk and didn’t know what she’d done or who she’d phoned.

You see a lot of people getting drunk in the streets and in magazines and stuff. If they’re famous you do tend to look up to them. They’re really famous for doing good things so if you see them taking drugs, you think that it’s good as well. It’s a bad image for kids our age. We go out and do it because we think it’s cool. Some of us have tried to sneak in to night clubs. I know we could end up being arrested or have the police come back to our house. That worries me.

At YWCA we’ve learned about things that can happen when drinking. We had to wear beer goggles which make you feel like you’re drunk. We tried to walk along a straight line, bandage somebody up, and make a phone call. Everyone was falling over all over the place. It’s really realistic. I’ve never been really drunk, just tipsy. I don’t want anything bad to happen. It puts me off.

Find out how your support can help young women like Lorna here.

 

Watch this short film about Lorna.