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As governments and policymakers around the world debate whether children under 16 should have access to social media, conversations about how early young people are exposed to powerful influences are gaining new urgency among parents and educators.

Against that backdrop, the D&G Foundation, the charitable arm of Red Stripe, is encouraging Jamaican families to begin discussions about responsibility and decision-making earlier in a child’s life through its Colouring Your Choices programme, which has already engaged 1,608 parents since its launch in September 2025.

At a time when many parents are increasingly concerned about the influences shaping children’s attitudes — from social media to wider digital culture — initiatives such as Colouring Your Choices provide families with a simple way to engage children in meaningful conversations at home, rather than leaving those influences to come primarily from external sources.

The programme uses an unexpected tool — a guided colouring workbook — to help parents and children reflect together on everyday behaviours and the messages adults send about communication, choices and lifestyle.

Launched as part of Red Stripe’s broader Drink and Live Responsibly initiative, Colouring Your Choices is designed to help families introduce discussions about personal responsibility and decision-making long before adolescence. The programme also reflects a wider global effort across the beverage industry to encourage responsible attitudes toward alcohol and promote informed decision-making. Through these initiatives, Red Stripe has continued to support community programmes and partnerships aimed at fostering thoughtful conversations about choices and behaviour, particularly among families and young people. 

Research in public health and child development consistently shows that children often form attitudes toward alcohol and other lifestyle behaviours by observing what happens at home. By encouraging parents to model thoughtful decision-making and open communication, the initiative aims to help families build a foundation for responsible choices early in life.

At a recent session hosted by the parent-teacher association at St Richard’s Primary School in St Andrew, parents gathered to explore the workbook through a guided activity led by Jamaican artist and author Shawn Ashman, with support from RISE Life Management Services, a Jamaican organisation known for its youth and family development programmes.

What began as a simple colouring exercise quickly evolved into deeper discussions about parenting, communication and the everyday behaviours children absorb from the adults around them.

“When we hosted our Parents’ Appreciation Day last November, we didn’t expect the reaction we got,” said Althea Barrett, president of the school’s PTA.

“Parents told us they went home and completed the book with their children. Some even coloured it themselves because it opened up real conversations in the household.”

The Colouring Your Choices workbook combines colouring activities, puzzles and reflective prompts that encourage families to pause and consider how tone of voice, emotional responses and daily routines influence the way children understand choices.

For Ashman, whose work centres on therapeutic art and personal development, creativity can make difficult conversations easier to start.

“Art is a very therapeutic tool,” she told participants during the session. “The process helps people slow down and reflect. It creates a safe space to talk about things we sometimes avoid discussing.”

RISE Life Management Services, which supports the programme through community engagement and family outreach, says the workbook offers parents a practical way to guide conversations children may already be beginning to have.

“In many of our outreach programmes, young people become curious and start asking questions about alcohol and health,” explained Shamar Wedderburn, project officer at RISE Life. “This workbook gives parents a constructive way to guide those conversations at home.”

Wedderburn emphasised that the resource is designed as a shared activity rather than something children complete on their own.

“It’s meant to bring families together,” he said. “Parents and children can sit down, talk through the prompts and reflect on how choices are made within the household.”

Parents who participated in the St Richard’s session described the experience as a rare opportunity to pause and examine their own communication styles and behaviours.

Barrett believes that reflection is where the programme makes its greatest impact.

“Children are always watching,” she said. “Sometimes we don’t realise how our own behaviour shapes what they learn until we stop and think about it.”

Through partnerships with schools and organisations such as RISE Life, the D&G Foundation continues to expand Colouring Your Choices across communities as part of its wider effort to encourage responsible attitudes and thoughtful decision-making among the next generation.

While the workbook may appear simple, organisers say its purpose is far-reaching: helping families recognise that the foundations for responsible choices are often built through everyday conversations at home.