Merchant Training

Dont forget the County Wide Merchant Training this week.
Location: Roberts Memorial Center
Date: October 28th
Time: 9am or 6pm

Does your business sell alcohol?

Do you have employees who need to be properly trained on how to check Id’s?

If you answered yes to these questions this training is for you! If your business has not been trained- it should be! This training will help your employees to understand the laws associated with alcohol sales, as well as the consequences for selling to a minor. This training will help protect your business!

This is a FREE training available to any businesses in Van Buren County, it will teach employees the proper procedures for checking an id, how to spot a fake id, and how to deal with intoxicated customers- new information added to the training- is information on energy drinks containing alcohol, information about laws, and new research.

At the conclusion of the training, free materials are provided for the business to keep on site. These materials included:
· Laminated reference sheets with recent laws and facts about the consequences of selling to minors
· Information on how to properly ID a customer
· Examples of what a proper ID looks like
· A copy of the presentation to keep on hand in order to train future employees
· Door and window stickers reminding patrons that they will be carded

If your business is interested in this training but can not attend on this date, please contact the SAFE coalition to schedule a training date/time that will work for your employees. We want every business in the county to be trained!

Contact 319-288-0912 to RSVP or set up a training!

Natural High 4 Video Available through the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition.

Through the words, actions and right choices made by some of today’s top professional athletes and musicians, Nixon and Natural High distributed the highly anticipated film “Natural High 4”, to every middle school in the country this September. Natural High 4, produced by Jon Sundt, features interviews with sober icons such as Paul Rodriguez Jr., Lisa Leslie, and Timmy Curran who enthusiastically share their decision to say “no” to drugs and alcohol and “yes” to a passion that got them naturally high.

Paul Rodriguez Jr., professional skateboarder and X-Games gold medalist tells kids in Natural High 4, “My natural high is skateboarding. Whatever it is you do, just accomplishing something after trying it for weeks, months, days, hours, and finally you land a trick, and finally you’re rolling away, it’s just amazing. It’s literally a buzz.” The goal of Paul and the rest of the athletes and musicians in Natural High 4 is to encourage kids to find that natural high, or passion that makes them feel good inside and can take the place of what drugs and alcohol fill in many other’s lives.

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition has a copy of the video for viewing if anyone is interested in sharing it with a classroom, youth group or any student organization. Please contact 319-293-6412.

Member??.... Become one!

If you are interested in making Van Buren County a SAFE place to live- We need you.
The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition is continually looking for members who have a passion to keep kids in the community SAFE and free of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

If you are interested in becoming a part of this dynamic group we encourage you to join us. You may become a member in the following ways:
1) Fill out a new member form on the coalition website at www.vbsafecoalition.com
2) Attend a monthly meeting- held on the second tuesday of the month at 2pm at the Roberts Bldg.
3) Call the coalition office at 319-293-6412

The coalition is always in need of parents who can provide their perspective on these issues!

Iowa Youth Survey Has Arrived

The Iowa youth Survey is being administered this week at the Van Buren Community High School and will be administered next week at the Van Buren Middle School.

The Iowa Youth Survey is administered this year to all students in grades 6-12. The purpose of the survey is to collect information about Iowa youth, so we can better understand their beliefs, values and decisions about what makes them feel secure, strong, and safe in their communities, schools, and families. In addition, information is collected about their ideas on alcohol, tobacco, drugs, bullying and harassment, and violence prevention. The information collected will help the school, local community task forces, and the state put together valuable future programming. It is important to ask children to tell us what is good and working about their life in Iowa, and what needs improvement, in their eyes.

All participants are encouraged to be truthful when completing the survey as the results are used to get a good clear picture of the youth in the community. If you have questions about the Iowa Youth Survey please feel free to contact the school office.

Parental Attitude Key to Healthier Drinking Habits

UNLESS parents adopt a zero tolerance policy towards underage drinking, their children are more likely to develop unhealthy drinking habits, a leading US psychologist has said.

James Bray, president of the American Psychological Association, said a four-year survey of adolescent drinking habits in the US had demonstrated that parental attitudes were fundamental to shaping the drinking habits of their children.

Dr Bray told The Australian after delivering the keynote address to the Australian Psychological Association's national conference in Darwin that when adolescents believed their parents were strongly against them using alcohol, they were least likely to use and abuse alcohol.

He said the likelihood of adolescents experimenting with alcohol began to increase even if parents had a mildly more permissive attitude.

His research showed that the children of parents who took a zero tolerance approach to underage drinking were more inclined to socialize with friends and peers who also consumed less alcohol.

The Texas-based psychologist has simultaneously conducted two surveys through Houston's Baylor College of Medicine examining the drinking habits of American adolescents -- one of 1000 aged 11 to 15; the other of 4000 aged 16 to 18.

The research showed that while peer influence was important in shaping adolescents' attitudes to alcohol, the role of family contact and good family relationships could be even more crucial.
"Parents who monitor children's behavior tend to have kids who drink less," Dr Bray said. "That involves keeping up with where they are at, and who their friends are."

But he said parents also needed to foster the independence, autonomy and self-confidence of their children to make them less inclined to develop a problematic relationship with alcohol.

He said his research had confirmed that if parents were over-protective of their children and did not cultivate their adolescents' independence, those teenagers were at risk of rebellion.
"When they rebel, they tend to turn to friends and peers that drink more, and ultimately drink more themselves," he said.

Dr Bray commended the focus the Australian government has given to binge drinking.

He said societal attitudes could be successfully changed through public campaigns highlighting the risks of underage drinking.

Reprinted from The Australian, October 1, 2009- Laura Wilson