High School students work to reduce underage drinking

Often, the most effective way to reach youth is through youth. The Northeast Texas Coalition Against Substance Abuse used this concept to reach teens about the dangers of underage drinking through a campaign started by juniors and seniors at Daingerfield High School.

It is the season of prom, graduation and end of year celebrations, and many teens will have the opportunity to drink alcohol. Since teen deaths due to alcohol-related incidents spike during this time, the students on the Daingerfield High School Taskforce wanted to reach their peers and encourage them to stay alcohol-free. The students met and developed #RethinktheDrink, a social media campaign that encourages students to post a picture or video on Instagram, and explain why they choose to not drink alcohol. We hope that through this campaign, kids in this community will see that they don’t have to drink to fit in, because there are plenty of kids who don’t drink, and are proud of it. Despite the common perception among teens that most youth drink alcohol, regional data reveals that 50.4 percent of 6th-12th graders have never consumed alcohol in their lifetime.

One of the submissions received before prom came from Madison Cox, a student at Daingerfield High School.

“As I look at my classmates at DHS and keep in mind that prom is tomorrow night, I am here saying that I choose to #rethinkthedrink,” she wrote. “And I pray and hope that everyone will also choose to make the right decisions while still having a great time.”

Although prom has already come and gone for most schools, Madison’s message that kids can still have fun without alcohol can be applied for graduation, the summer, homecoming and every other season in their lives.

There are many different reasons why teens choose to rethink the drink. Some were more personal.

“I choose to #rethinkthedrink because of my two little sisters,” said Hope Driggers, a sophomore at Daingerfield High School. “I have a large influence over their choices by being the person that they look up to and mold themselves after. With one sister about to enter high school, and another sister about to enter junior high, it has never been more important than now to lead them down the right path.”

The Northeast Coalition Against Substance Abuse has been working with these students this past year to develop different strategies to prevent substance abuse on their campus. Some of these strategies include posters with messages against underage drinking, presentations and information booths.

This campaign includes a series of contests that open during high risk times for underage drinking. Those that enter the contest go in the running to win a prize as an incentive for students to participate. In order to continue this campaign, the Northeast Texas Coalition Against Substance Abuse is accepting in-kind donations to use as prizes for these students. If you are interested in donating to this campaign, or interested in joining the coalition, please contact Susan Anderson at susan.anderson@nextstepcsi. com.

About: Northeast Texas Coalition Against Substance Abuse is a program of Next Step Community Solutions, a Tyler-based nonprofit. The coalition is made up of concerned community members and works to prevent adolescent drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug abuse in Cass, Bowie, Franklin, Morris and Titus counties.