Background information of project

Nearly three years ago, an Owen County High School freshman placed vodka into a water bottle and headed to her first block class. Before the end of the class, she had drunk herself into unconsciousness. She was rushed to the hospital and because her friends threw the water bottle away, it took some time to figure out what had happened to her. Luckily, she survived and is now a senior.

But she wasn’t alone. That same day, another student was discovered to have alcohol in a soda bottle. Two other students had been expelled earlier in the school year for the same offense.

While not the first indicator that Owen County has a problem with underage drinking, these incidents point to the severity of the situation. Teens are drinking and they’ll find any way to do it any time they want.

Because of the high number of students expelled for alcohol-related school violations and the high rate of teen violent deaths, Owen County was identified to receive the SPF SIG grant targeting underage drinking. In addition to these two rates, other health and safety statistics relating to underage drinking pointed to a possible problem in the community.

Community perceptions are that drinking is just a rite of passage for Owen County youth and some parents knowingly provide alcohol for their teen and their teen’s friends. Respondents to a community survey conducted in late summer indicated that 47% of those responding knew an adult who had provided alcohol to youth.

Additional community perceptions include those that youth caught drinking aren’t treated equitably by local law enforcement officials. Some are arrested and later convicted. Others are released to their parents or an older friend to go home and sleep off their hangovers.

Coalition Formation:
Owen County Teen Alcohol
Prevention Project (TAPP)

After confirmation that we had received the grant, our coalition formed in the spring of 2006. A full-time coordinator was hired in October, 2006. Current coalition members include representatives from the school system, the local health department, the faith community as well as prevention experts. Additional individuals, including the school superintendent, have been very supportive of efforts of the coalition to this point.
The coalition worked hard in the months before a coordinator was in place putting together the strategic plan from which we would work over the next five years. In addition, they implemented a community-wide survey and garnered support from several local businesses to help increase participation levels.

Update of Past Projects and Future Activities

Since October, we have collected school suspension records from the 2000-2001 school year forward and have been able to secure court data records from the local circuit clerk concerning underage drinking charges. We held an initial community event designed to get anecdotal information from parents and youth to confirm the statistical data we have collected. Our strategic plan and supporting documents were approved by the state in early December and give us a solid base from which to move forward with our work. We have developed bylaws and elected coalition officers for the coming year.

Our current focus will be on increasing support for the project through the education of the community on the problem, targeting middle and high school students and their parents initially, and moving into the lower grade levels after that. Proposed task forces include law enforcement, parental and policy/advocacy. We will also be targeting retailers in surrounding counties to determine where alcohol consumed in the community is purchased.

In March, we are bringing in the Youth Leadership Institute to train adults and youth to mobilize surrounding this effort. Several youth, identified during our focus groups, have indicated a desire to participate in the project. We consider their involvement an important and integral part of the success of this project.

Our long-term goals are to decrease youth alcohol use by 5%; decrease the number of alcohol-related law violations in the school district; decrease the high rate of teen violent death; increase the perception of harm of alcohol use by 5%; decrease availability of alcohol to youth by 5%; and create an initiative that is self sustaining.

But more importantly, our goal is to save the lives of our children. Because the bottom line is we don’t want another student to drink so much they become unconscious, unresponsive or to even die.