You may be wondering what it is all about. The Van Buren
County SAFE Coalition and youth from the local Youth Leadership Council teamed
up for Alcohol Awareness Month to remind adults that it is illegal to purchase
or provide alcohol to minors. The goal of this youth-led initiative is to
change adult attitudes about selling and providing alcohol to minors.
The students spent two days visiting each business in the
county which sells carry-out alcohol to patrons. They placed bright red stop sign
cooler clings, posters and stickers on beer products in the stores to remind
adults “It is illegal to purchase or provide alcohol to minors.”
“Adults need to set a better example for kids,” said one
youth member. “When adults supply
alcohol to youth it sends us a very mixed message. Underage drinking is not a teen problem, but
a community problem. Adults, youth, law
enforcement, and retail stores all need to be part of the solution.”
Van Buren County SAFE
Coalition recognizes the following stores for their desire to manage the sale
of alcohol responsibly: Boyd’s Grocery, Casey’s, Circle B, Douds Kwik Stop, Jet
Stop – Birmingham, Bonaparte and Milton, H&K
Pony Express and Moore’s
Grocery. “A strong community message is
sent when a business like this takes responsibility for speaking out against
underage drinking,” said Heidi Bainbridge, Van Buren County SAFE Coalition
coordinator.
Alcohol has been identified as the number one drug of choice
among youth, and according to local youth, one of the easiest substances to
obtain. The Sticker Shock campaign hopes
to cause adults to think twice before making it any easier for youth to access
alcohol.
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