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Teens Play Active Role to Reduce Youth Access to Alcohol04:51PM / Friday, November 06, 2009
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA), a program of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, in collaboration with MADD, the MCLA Women’s Basketball team, and student volunteers from local high schools, will launch a Sticker Shock Campaign at area liquor stores to remind adults to obey the law. The campaign will begin this Sunday, November 8.
The campaign consists of teams of young people, accompanied by an adult chaperone, placing stickers on multi-packs of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine coolers, etc.) and paper bags at participating package stores. The stickers read, “Hey You! It is illegal to provide alcohol for people under 21!”
The purpose of Sticker Shock is to raise public awareness about the minimum drinking age law by placing stickers on multi-packs of beer, wine coolers and any other alcohol products that appeal to underage drinkers. The goal of this project is to discourage adults and older peers (those who are 21 or over) from providing alcohol to minors.
“This is an opportunity to remind adults to do their part in keeping our youth safe. Young people admit they readily receive alcohol from older peers and their own parents, so we must enforce the 21 minimum drinking age by reminding adults to obey the law,” says Jenna Dickinson, Coordinator of the CMCA program.
According to the 2009 Prevention Needs Assessment Survey, 15.2% of 8th graders in North Berkshire County, 35.2% of 10th graders, and 32.1% of 12th graders reported they drank alcohol provided by an adult family member or friend in the past year, and a recent American Medical Association poll showed that adults are the most common source of alcohol for teens nationally.
Preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility; including parents, teens, public health agencies, law enforcement, and retail establishments. More must be done to address this problem. Underage drinking costs Massachusetts approximately $1.4 billion a year while accounting for more than $560 million in alcohol sales, or approximately 15% of all alcohol sold in the Commonwealth.
“Activities such as Sticker Shock help reduce youth access to alcohol and also show that teens can be the driving force behind this movement,” says Amy Whitney, MADD Youth Coordinator. “That is what MADD Youth In Action is about.” |
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