Despite laws making it mandatory for those younger than 21 to refrain from drinking and despite laws prohibiting those older than 21 to provide alcohol or a place to consume it for minors, underage drinking remains a problem locally and across the state.
Jan Tipton, director of training and prevention for Gateway to Prevention and Recovery, said her goal, as well as the goal for many people she knows, is to educate people about why underage drinking is a problem.
That goal includes educating “at the point of sale, educating kids, educating parents, churches, every point of view, every angle,” she said.
In an effort to reach that goal in Shawnee, the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services gave a “small, mini grant” to several agencies in the state to help educate communities. Gateway, along with others in the state, is using the money from those grants to host Drinking Reality parties for adults 21 and older, along with parents younger than 21, between 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Nov. 18.
“The parties will include tours of reality every 30 minutes and guests have to register to learn where the party will be held,” Tipton said. “They just need to call, give their name and how many people will be with them, and pick a time. We try to have 10 people per 30-minute session.”
Tipton said the tours will be given in a private home at Shawnee and in 17 other different locations throughout Oklahoma. The tours will include rooms that show drinking games teenagers play, fight scenes and a “bedroom scene,” as well as other realistic scenes, she said.
“We consulted with teens in Shawnee to see what is actually going on and what drinking games they have at underage parties and incorporated that into the tour,” Tipton said. “We hope this will be a dose of reality for parents that there is no such thing as a safe kids’ party with drinking. It’s just to get people to thinking because so often, we just want to be ‘cool’ and be friends to our kids and their friends instead of being parents.”
Parents and other adults will also learn ways of communicating with their children, including teenagers, about the risks of underage drinking, including alcohol poisoning, risks of violence and risks of sexual assault.
“We will debrief them after the party to educate them about the social host ordinance in Shawnee and we plan to have a town hall meeting in late November or early December to have the parents come together to discuss how to address these issues,” Tipton said.
For more information about the event or to register, call 275-3391 and enter extension 101 or extension 102. Registration is available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
|
|
|
Despite laws making it mandatory for those younger than 21 to refrain from drinking and despite laws prohibiting those older than 21 to provide alcohol or a place to consume it for minors, underage drinking remains a problem locally and across the state.
Jan Tipton, director of training and prevention for Gateway to Prevention and Recovery, said her goal, as well as the goal for many people she knows, is to educate people about why underage drinking is a problem.
That goal includes educating “at the point of sale, educating kids, educating parents, churches, every point of view, every angle,” she said.
In an effort to reach that goal in Shawnee, the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services gave a “small, mini grant” to several agencies in the state to help educate communities. Gateway, along with others in the state, is using the money from those grants to host Drinking Reality parties for adults 21 and older, along with parents younger than 21, between 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Nov. 18.
“The parties will include tours of reality every 30 minutes and guests have to register to learn where the party will be held,” Tipton said. “They just need to call, give their name and how many people will be with them, and pick a time. We try to have 10 people per 30-minute session.”
Tipton said the tours will be given in a private home at Shawnee and in 17 other different locations throughout Oklahoma. The tours will include rooms that show drinking games teenagers play, fight scenes and a “bedroom scene,” as well as other realistic scenes, she said.
“We consulted with teens in Shawnee to see what is actually going on and what drinking games they have at underage parties and incorporated that into the tour,” Tipton said. “We hope this will be a dose of reality for parents that there is no such thing as a safe kids’ party with drinking. It’s just to get people to thinking because so often, we just want to be ‘cool’ and be friends to our kids and their friends instead of being parents.”
Parents and other adults will also learn ways of communicating with their children, including teenagers, about the risks of underage drinking, including alcohol poisoning, risks of violence and risks of sexual assault.
“We will debrief them after the party to educate them about the social host ordinance in Shawnee and we plan to have a town hall meeting in late November or early December to have the parents come together to discuss how to address these issues,” Tipton said.
For more information about the event or to register, call 275-3391 and enter extension 101 or extension 102. Registration is available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
