Articles

A Comparative Look at the Success of Town Hall Meetings, 2006-2010

Town Hall Meetings (THMs) to prevent and reduce underage drinking (UAD) have taken place in 2006, 2008, and 2010. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA/CSAP) sponsors THMs and surveys community-based organizations (CBOs) that hosted the events to evaluate the effectiveness of THMs in raising public awareness of UAD and in mobilizing communities around prevention. Read More

Youth Are Making a Difference in Underage Drinking Prevention

There are far more youth not drinking alcohol than those who are. In 2008, 96.6 percent of 12- to 13-year-olds did not use alcohol. These teens can become a powerful tool in a community’s underage drinking prevention efforts, long after the end of the Town Hall Meeting season. Read More

How One County Curbs Alcohol Sales to Underage Youth

Strategies that help to limit youth access to alcohol are among the most effective underage drinking prevention approaches. Such strategies, known as environmental interventions, include the consistent and fair enforcement of laws and regulations regarding the minimum legal drinking age for youth. Read More

What Educators Can Learn—and Teach—About Underage Drinking Prevention

Your Town Hall Meeting (THM) is a significant educational event for those who participate. It can jump-start the change you want to bring about in reducing and preventing underage drinking. The education that takes place at your THM needs to spread to the parents and youth who do not attend. That is no easy task. But you can harness the rich resource of educators in your community to carry on the spark you ignite at your THM. Read More

Reducing Underage Alcohol Purchases in Your Community

A hot topic at Town Hall Meetings (THMs) to prevent underage drinking (UAD) has been how to limit youth access to alcohol. Read More

New Prevention Partners Join the THM Movement

Doctors, students, mothers, and the Elks. What do these disparate groups have in common? All took a lead role in the 2010 Town Hall Meetings (THMs) to prevent underage drinking. Read More

Safe Spring: Practical Underage Drinking Prevention Strategies

Spring is in the air! Spring break, prom, and graduation soon follow. Daylight is long, and young people are spending more time outdoors, out of school, and away from adult supervision. Parents and other caring adults need to be aware of what youth are doing and be prepared to offer safe alternatives. Encourage families and friends to talk to their children about underage drinking. Your Town Hall Meeting (THM) can prompt parents to talk with youth now and help prevent serious problems later. Read More

Building on Success: Using and Sharing Lessons Learned From Your Town Hall Meeting Experience

You’ve held your Town Hall Meeting (THM)…now what? First, give yourself a pat on the back and celebrate your accomplishment! Over the past several weeks, you and your planning committee worked feverishly to discuss and finalize all details related to your event. Read More

After Your Town Hall Meeting: What Next?

Your community is more aware of underage drinking (UAD) and its consequences as a result of your Town Hall Meeting (THM). Many members of your community feel compelled to take preventive action now. Make sure that your THM has been a catalyst for action by ensuring that this momentum will continue to build and that solutions offered during your THM will be implemented. Read More

Town Hall Meeting Kickoff!

Town Hall Meetings (THMs) on underage drinking prevention kick off across the country during the week of March 22, 2010, to coincide with the start of April’s Alcohol Awareness Month. THMs recognize the serious problem of underage alcohol use. Read More

Last-Minute Town Hall Meeting Resources

As American humorist Groucho Marx once observed, "We should have all of our hindsights beforehand." But sometimes even the best of us overlook an important element in our planning; sometimes busy community leaders forget; sometimes volunteers with the best of intentions cannot complete their tasks. Read More

Photo/Video Authorization Release Form

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is preparing an archive of the 2010 national THMs on underage drinking prevention. You may have already developed an authorization release form for photos and videos to distribute at your event and obtain participants’ permission to be photographed or videotaped. Read More

Measuring the Success of Your Town Hall Meeting Media Coverage

Your Town Hall Meeting (THM) was a hit and you got lots of media coverage. What now? Collect evidence of what you accomplished, show it off, and evaluate the effect of the coverage so you can show how THMs focus widespread community attention on underage drinking. Read More

Getting Feedback on Your Town Hall Meeting

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA’s CSAP) evaluates the effectiveness of Town Hall Meetings (THMs) by collecting data from the meeting organizer—you. In the report that comes out later this year, you will see how your event contributed to the nationwide effort to prevent underage drinking through THMs. Read More

Promoting Attendance at Your Town Hall Meeting

Your Town Hall Meeting (THM) has a specific goal: to increase community awareness of underage drinking and its prevention. But, unless community members attend, the vital information shared at your event is in danger of being like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest. To ensure that your prevention message is heard throughout your community, create a plan for maximizing attendance. Implementing the right mix of promotional strategies will help bring people to your THM and is a key step in engaging parents, youth, teachers, government and local business representatives, and others who should be part of a communitywide effort to prevent underage drinking and its consequences. Read More

Countdown Timeline for Maximum Media Coverage

"If you build it, they will come" rarely works—unless you’re in a movie. So how can you ensure that the media will promote and cover your Town Hall Meeting (THM)? Whether your event is a small gathering of community decision makers, a Parent-Teacher Association meeting, or a large-scale event, media support is vital to spreading the underage drinking prevention message throughout your community. Media publicity before your event can boost attendance at your THM. Coverage of the event itself increases community awareness of underage drinking and the reasons why prevention is urgently needed. Media coverage also may lead to future articles about underage drinking and how your THM has mobilized your community to take action. Read More

Look Who's Talking About Preventing Underage Drinking!

Defiant, rebellious, disobedient. They ignore all your good advice or do just the opposite of what you say. Teenagers! You can’t tell them anything. They think they know better than you. Tell them not to go near alcohol, and they turn right around and drink anyway. Right? Read More

Your Meeting Agenda: Mapping the Way From Information to Action

A Town Hall Meeting(THM) without a well-thought-out agenda is like a road trip without a map. You might cover a lot of ground, but will you ever reach the desired destination? Read More

In-Kind Contributions - Recipe for THM Success

Stone Soup, a popular children’s folktale, tells how a young man was able to create a delicious soup although he started with only a stone and a pot of water. He accomplished this feat by inviting others to add a favorite ingredient to his pot and then share in the end product. Read More