*Some names have been
changed to protect privacy.
There were plates of spaghetti, gift-wrapping and a scavenger
hunt.
Families came and went, sometimes stopping to participate in
a focus group with other adults or children.
The subject on everyone’s mind was the same: underage
drinking, and how it is affecting Owen County.
An event took place Dec. 12 at Owen County High School that
focused on preventing underage drinking. It was put on by the
Owen County Teen Alcohol Prevention Project (TAPP) and was the
first time residents of the county got to see what the group
was all about.
TAPP was started as a result of data analysis that showed a
problem in the area with underage drinking. A $1.5 million state
grant was received to start the program.
Patti Clark is the grant coordinator for Owen County TAPP. She
said Owen County was ranked second out of 120 counties “based
on the rate of alcohol-related violations at the high school.”
She also said that during the 2003-2004 school year, four students
were suspended for bringing alcohol into school in soda and
water bottles.
“One student was taken to the hospital after drinking
to the point of becoming unconscious,” she said.
The goal of this program, Clark says, is to save lives. A high
violent death rate for teens in the county proved the program
was something the county needed.
The effort to stop underage drinking is not a small one. In
addition to Clark, there are a number of other groups working
on this problem. Those groups include the NorthKey and Bluegrass
Regional Prevention Centers, the Three Rivers Health District,
the Owen County School System and the faith community.
“Owen was the only county selected to target underage
drinking,” Clark said. “There are no other projects
like this one in other counties.”
The event at the high school provided a way for TAPP to reach
out to the community, as well as find out information that could
help them fight underage drinking. Focus groups were done with
both adults and teenagers to find out what they knew in terms
of how bad the problem really is.
Terry and Tracy Peterson participated in the adult focus group.
They were concerned about the problem in Owen County and had
a lot of feedback to offer the group.
“(I think) a lot of it is parental influence,” Terry
said. “It’s in the house.”
They said they knew it went on and had a pretty good idea of
where it was happening. The consequences though, they thought
depended on the parents.
“What can you do?” Tracy said. “You can grieve,
and hope they don’t do it again, but you can’t lock
them up.”
Responsibility was also placed on local police and teachers.
The Peterson’s both said they didn’t believe enough
happened if a student was caught by the police or even a coach.
“Teachers should be the highest example set to kids,”
Terry said.
The couple had ideas about alternatives for kids, to keep them
interested in and busy with something that would keep them from
drinking. They said something positive should be offered, and
something that helps their self-esteem. They also stressed parents’
accountability and being able to learn to deal with problems
in a healthy way.
Blame is not put entirely on teenagers; the Petersons said they
believed adult drinking was also an issue in the county. Both
said they would support a project that would deal with the issue
of underage drinking.
“It helps me to help other people,” Terry said.
There was also a focus group done among teenagers in attendance.
Two of the participants, Matt* and Nick* provided details from
a young person’s point of view.
As far as being able to get alcohol, the teens said that “most
kids have older family members they can ask.”
“A lot get it from parents that don’t care,”
Nick said.
While the two said they know of places where other students
drink, they said they hadn’t heard of the school catching
them, and when parents catch them, Nick said, “They’re
more in shock, they don’t know what to do.”
Like the Petersons, the teens placed some accountability on
parents.
“Parents can be more concerned,” Matt said.
“Parents should not get drunk with their kids,”
Nick said. “If parents got fined, (I think) underage drinking
would go down a lot.”
Matt also believed others could try and help out as well, by
doing something as simple as asking for an ID and being more
inquisitive if they saw an underage person drinking.
Clark said an estimated 80 people attended the event. Many of
those who came, she said, showed a concern about the issue and
wanted to help.
She said she wasn’t surprised by the answers given by
the parents and students.
“The focus groups confirmed many of the suspicions we’d
had going into the project,” she said.
One of the main reasons for the high level of underage drinking
is because students say they have nothing to do. Clark said
that TAPP will be working with different groups in the county,
including the schools and Owen County Parks and Recreation to
find alternatives for young people.
“Some parents think it’s OK for their kids to drink
if they drink at home,” Clark said. “Providing alcohol
for any underage child — even your own — is illegal.”
The project is one that can involve the whole community, because
it is an issue that affects the whole community.
Another event is planned for Feb. 8. It will focus on discussing
the plans TAPP has for the county, as well as provide more information
on the program itself. TAPP encourages everyone to attend.
To become a part of the project, or just learn more about it,
contact Patti Clark at 484-8539 or at pclark@northkey.org. To
attend the event on Feb. 8, R.S.V.P. no later than Jan. 30.
The event begins at 6 p.m. at the extension office.
“There’s an African Proverb that says ‘It
takes a whole village to raise a child,’” Clark
said. “It’s going to take the whole village of Owen
County to make an impact on this issue, to change the lives
of today’s youth and to change the future of Owen County.”
