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Community comes out in force to discuss underage drinking |
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From Community Partnership
Fifty community members participated in the Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking on Monday night at Hazelden’s Richmond Walker Center.
The event, sponsored by Community Partnership, was one of 1,200 town meetings across the country to address a problem that reaches far beyond consumption of alcohol. Chisago County Commissioner Lynn Schultz kicked off the evening and urged the group to “recognize the reality of underage drinking in our community.”
She stated that “while attitudes on underage drinking may be individual, the implications and effects on our community are far reaching, and the problem belongs to all of us!”
Melissa Vrudny, Community Partnership’s Certified Prevention Specialist presented facts on the dangers of underage drinking and the extent of the problem in Minnesota and in Chisago County.
“As many as 8 percent of 6th graders, 31 percent of 9th graders and 59 percent of 12th graders in the county reported using alcohol in the past 30 days.”
All three age groups are higher than the state averages.
“That is way too many kids drinking!” Consequences of underage drinking were presented, including the fact that teens that have been drinking often times see nothing wrong with riding with a driver who has been drinking. It was also emphasized that the earlier kids start to drink, the more likely it will be problematic as they get older.
Tips for parents were presented, including knowing where your kids are and who they are hanging out with (especially when high school-age teens), setting clear family rules about non-use, and just paying attention to what is happening in your child’s life as simple ways to prevent underage drinking.
Youths can make good choices by learning about the harm and danger of alcohol use, help their friends make good choices, and letting adults know that it is not OK to provide alcohol to minors.
Vital Impact, the teen Improv troupe from Trinity Lutheran church in Lindstrom presented a series of realistic scenes that got the audience talking. Their scene, “What’s the Big Deal?” portrayed students and parents discussing after-prom party ideas. “Now What” presented some of the pressures young people are dealing with when choosing not to drink.
Troupe members, Chisago Lakes High School students Billy, Jamie, Kyle, Kyra, Stacy and Zac shared their thoughts on the topic. Community Partnership Executive Director Tom Koplitz facilitated the audience discussion and recognized troupe advisor Linda Rambow for her outstanding work with Improv since 1993.
Chisago County Public Health Educator Cyndi Carroll led a conversation, “a call to action” and challenged the audience to share ideas on addressing the problem. Over a dozen great ideas were identified (the complete list is posted at www.cpyf.org).
Clear and consistent messages that “it’s not ok for minors to drink alcohol and it’s not ok for adults to provide alcohol” were identified as a priority. Other ideas were to encourage school sports teams to be more aggressive at setting expectations and enforcing existing rules, to establish a countywide underage drinking task force, and to implement a major publicity campaign throughout schools, churches, businesses and the entire community.
As commissioner Schultz stated, “We have the key players at the table and there are so many good things happening in Chisago County. Let us build on this foundation and challenge everyone to be part of the solution to make our community better.”
Anyone interested in joining the efforts or finding out more about the challenges of underage drinking in our communities and the proposed call to action can join the Partners for a Drug Free Chisago County through the Web site at www.cpyf.org or by calling (651) 674-4085.
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