FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jane Moen
December 4, 2009 Youth and Family Services
860-395-3190
Old Saybrook Teens Launching Sticker Shock Program to Prevent Underage Drinking
A dozen Old Saybrook High School students will participate in “Sticker Shock” on Thursday, December 10th at Liquor Stores in Old Saybrook, CT. Sticker Shock is a program developed by MADD CT. Sticker Shock gives youth and opportunity to raise public awareness about the minimum drinking age law by placing stickers on multi-packs of beer, wine coolers and any other alcohol products that appeal to underage drinkers. The goal of this project is to discourage adults and older peers (those who are 21 or over) from providing alcohol to minors.
The event is sponsored by REACH, an Old Saybrook Youth and Family Services program. REACH stands for Responsible Educated Adolescents Can Help and is a youth lead program whose sole mission is to provide awareness and prevention programming regarding substance use and abuse among Old Saybrook youth.
The program is a cooperative effort that relies on local liquor store’s commitment to addressing underage drinking at a local level. The partnering liquor stores for Sticker Shock include Seaside Liquors and The Cordial Shoppe. Working together, the collaborative effort hopes that this project will engage adults and get them to think twice about providing alcohol to anyone under 21. “The youth involved in this project are very dedicated and concerned that adults readily provide alcohol to underage youth and they want to stop this practice from continuing” said Jane Moen, REACH Team Advisor and Youth Coordinator from Old Saybrook Youth and Family Services.
The REACH Team has a full agenda of programs and activities they are bringing to Old Saybrook High School and the community. This fall they blanketed the school with substance abuse facts and figures prior to an all school assembly and workshops on 11/18 with the Improbable Players. The Improbable Players are an acting troupe who performed “Running on E” which focused on peer pressure as it relates to substance abuse. Following the program the Reach Team staffed a resource table with an array of self-help materials as well as a pledge to make healthy decisions that was signed by over 250 students and staff.
Briana Bardos, REACH Team President and a junior at Old Saybrook High School, is ready to take action. “The primary issue in Old Saybrook is that many teens think that there is nothing else better to do but to drink and that drinking is the only thing they can do to have fun. Our goal with REACH is to show teens that there are alternative ways to have fun that does not involve drinking. We also want to inform parents that it isn’t OK that their teens are drinking and that they need to get involved and not promote or be a part of underage drinking.”
The REACH Team certainly has big plans to address the underage drinking issues in Old Saybrook and Jane Moen, Youth Coordinator for Old Saybrook Youth and Family Services and REACH Advisor, admires their endeavors. “This team of teens has a great deal of passion for the issue of underage drinking and substance use. They are jumping in to make an impact here in Old Saybrook”, Moen said. “These teens should make us all feel proud for the great work they are doing to help Old Saybrook teens make healthy choices”.
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