Town hall meeting planned at Pioneer to raise awareness on underage drinking
A collaboration of community organizations is hosting a town hall meeting this week to raise awareness on underage drinking.
“Underage Drinking is Not a MINOR Problem,” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 22, in the Pioneer High School auditorium at 601 W. Stadium Blvd. in Ann Arbor.
The event will include a panel with representatives from Clean Teens, Huron Valley Ambulance, the Ann Arbor Police Department, a local alcohol retailer, area high school students and the Pioneer High School Counseling Department.
“Our goal is to gather as a community, raise public awareness about underage drinking and collectively act to take action to prevent it,” organizers said in a press release. “The event is designed to unify visions to keep our children healthy and safe, and to learn more about underage drinking and discuss how this issue affects our community.”
Discussion topics include:
- How parental disapproval discourages underage drinking
- Underage drinking seen through the eyes of EMS providers
- What parents should know about alcohol and the adolescent brain
- Alcohol-related consequences
- Why avoiding alcohol is important to me
- Youth access points to alcohol and point of sale policies and laws
- Teachers, teens and parents working together to prevent underage drinking
- Prom and graduation celebrations
The public is welcome to ask questions, voice concerns and suggest ideas for preventing young people from using alcohol.
Comments
Dr. I. Emsayin
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : 5:41 p.m.
Parents of middle school students and parents of high school students should attend this event. The number of 8th graders who begin drinking in or shortly after middle school is cause for alarm. The college kids we all see drunk on the weekend likely began at age 14 or 15, if not earlier. It's a serious problem.