“Colorful instead of blue” – With art against binge drinking

Again and again, you read in the newspapers or hear on the radio about young people who get drunk enough to go to hospital. Again and again, it is also about young people who are actually not allowed to consume alcohol. The facts are frightening! Between 2013 and 2017, an average of 22,000 children and young people were hospitalized each year for alcohol abuse.

“Alcohol consumption, certainly not excessive binge drinking, doesn’t solve problems, it creates them.” (Kai Klose, https://www.t-online.de/region/id_87250550/mit-kunst-gegen-komasaufen-schulwettbewerb-beginnt.html )

The health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit has been fighting this “binge drinking” for eleven years. With its competition for schoolchildren, “Bunt statt blau” (“Colorful instead of blue”), schoolchildren are to be sensitized to this topic and made aware of the consequences! The health insurance company is focusing on education and prevention. With success! Statistically, the general alcohol consumption of the young generation has decreased in recent years. This campaign will not have been the trigger, but it is actively contributing to this!

With the student competition “Colorful instead of blue”, students, whether individually or as a group work, between the ages of 12 and 17 can still submit posters to the DAK until March 31, 2020, which deal with the topic of “alcohol”. 

Last year, around 9,000 school groups and individuals took part in the nationwide competition. There are no conditions for participation. To take part in the competition, you do not have to be a member of the health insurance fund, nor do you have to meet certain requirements. Only the given age must be evenly reached!

Of course, the winner of the competition will also be rewarded! There are cash prizes at state and national level, as well as prize money of €300 for the best picture on Instagram. Through the social network Instagram, the contributions can be distributed worldwide, so that thousands of users can be reached. At the national level, the prize money for 1st place is a whopping 1000€, at the state level 300€.

The results of the students are impressive! With creativity and ambition, they put works of art on paper that are not only beautiful to look at, but above all convey a clear message: “Hands off alcohol!” The artworks can be viewed via the link: https://www.dak.de/dak/gesundheit/plakatwettbewerb-in-sachsen-2099884.html marvel.

The campaign is now also known in the German Bundestag! In the drug and addiction report of the federal government, “Bunt statt blau” was described as a very positive example for the prevention of excessive alcohol consumption!