Workshop presented to Drug Free Rogers-Lowell
Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
ROGERS — Andrew Treno, Ph. D., of California, presented a seminar to members of the Drug-Free Rogers-Lowell Underage Drinking Prevention Coalition at the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
The purpose of the training was to arm the coalition with information from the evidencebased program Community Trials Intervention to Reduce High-Risk Drinking. Included among the most effective strategies in reducing the number of underage drinkers was the education of adults, particularly parents and guardians of underage individuals.
The best ways to reach parents that were discussed are through community events or town-hall meetings; school events; and sports events or recreational / city leagues. Other suggestions were to include informative fliers in utility bills or bank statements or pizza boxes. University of Arkansas students could be helpful in mentoring younger students regarding alcohol. A speakers’ bureau could be organized that would include adults and children whose lives have been affected by alcohol and are willing to speak to groups about how their lives have been impacted by alcohol.
It was mentioned that prominent people, coaches or parents, or anyone youngsters admire, could be amazingly powerful in their presentations to underage kids. Several new methods may be put into practice over the next few years to encourage the decrease of underage drinking.
Among other suggestions were tougher penalties for hosting an event that included underage drinking. An upgraded media campaign using billboards, print media, My Space and other computer programs will most likely be used.
“ Overall, ” Treno said, “ there seems to be a surprising amount of ignorance on the part of underage drinkers and their parents regarding the damage alcohol can cause to underdeveloped brains. The human brain, according to research, is not fully developed and mature until the age of 25. I doubt many parents or their children know that. ”
The coalition members are working to raise awareness regarding the negative consequences — physical, social, legal and economic — caused by underage drinking.
Drug Free Rogers-Lowell works within the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce to help bring education to people in the area regarding the hazards of drugs in the family and workplace. The coalition works through several programs to accomplish their goals: Underage Drinking Prevention, Tobacco Cessation and Prevention, the Methamphetamine Task Force and the Good Health Initiatives.
For more information, visit the Web site www. rogerslowell. com.
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