National Prevention Week
Are you planning a Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event in May to prevent underage drinking? Consider tying it to National Prevention Week (NPW), an annual observance sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to increase public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues. You do not need to schedule your event during this week to take advantage of the many NPW resources being offered by SAMHSA to community-based prevention organizations. Explore some of the ways you can incorporate the free NPW materials into your Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event, such as the following:
- Download and print out the "I choose" card. At your Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event, finish the “I choose†sentence with a personal message about why underage drinking prevention is important to them. Post these pictures on your website, through social media, and in your event coverage.
- Take the web banners and badges found on the NPW materials site, and upload them social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
- Review the free NPW template materials in the National Prevention Week Toolkit, them for media and outreach purposes. A sample opinion-editorial on underage drinking prevention can be found on page 49 of the toolkit.
- Use the checklist in the National Prevention Week Toolkit to track your progress Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event/NPW event.
NPW is timed to allow parents, students, and educators to take part in a prevention-themed event before the school year ends. Proms and graduations often occur in May; these and other events place underage students at greater risk of drinking alcohol. In addition, summer is rapidly approaching, with June and July as two of the three highest months of alcohol use initiation by children under age 18. If you are holding an event during NPW, share these critical facts with your attendees. Also, be sure to register your event on the NPW site in addition to the Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event site. That way, your event can bring attention to two important health observances. If you are not holding a Communities Talk: Town Hall Meeting to Prevent Underage Drinking event in May, you still can support NPW by helping SAMHSA publicize this national health observance. For both the Town Hall Meetings initiative and NPW, prevention is key.