TYLER, Texas — As the Super Bowl approaches, three East Texas nonprofits have teamed up with almost 50 retailers and restaurants to raise awareness about the dangers of underage drinking and help parents start conversations with their children.
Next Step Community Solutions has partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving East Texas and Community Healthcore’s Prevention Network Coalition to recruit alcohol retailers and restaurants to inform people using stickers on alcohol coolers and to-go containers.
The cooler stickers have a reminder to adults that giving alcohol to a minor is illegal and is punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 and a year in jail. The to-go stickers serve as a way to show parents that mealtime is a great time to talk to their kids about underage drinking, according to Next Step Community Solutions.
Parents can use dontprovideetx.com to find information on how to talk to their child about alcohol.
“No matter what else is going on in the world, encouraging parents to have a good relationship with their kids and talk to their children early and often about underage drinking, as well as discouraging any adult in general from providing alcohol, these have shown to be strategies that work,” said Rebecca Smith, director of prevention programs at Next Step. “It may take time, but we know the path forward to bring underage drinking down even more.”
Data from the Texas School Survey out of Texas A&M University shows that from 2016 to 2020, the East Texas region has seen a 16% decrease in seventh to 12th graders saying they've had an alcoholic drink in the last 30 days.
Despite more data coming this year, organizers believe this decrease demonstrates that reaching out to adults is a winning strategy.
Businesses participating in this campaign include select Brookshire’s and Walmart stores as well as smaller alcohol retailers like East Texas Liquor in Lone Star.
“This is the community I live in, and I know how alcohol affects you in the future,” said owner Parin Patel.
Patel, who grew up in India, has several family members who have dealt with health issues because of excessive drinking. Patel said in India underage drinking is not discussed and the drinking age is lower than in the U.S.
Ashlei Green, coalition coordinator for the Piney Woods Substance Abuse Coalition, said underage drinking can cause increased risk of damage to a teen’s developing brain and most underage drinking fatalities happen because of suicide, homicide, alcohol poisoning, or other accidents.
For more information about Next Step and their coalitions, visit nextstepcs.org.
