Rooks County Communities That Care Committee
Little Stockton, Kansas
Town Hall Meeting Draws Concerned Citizens
Introduction
Stockton, Kansas, is a small town of fewer than 1,400 residents and
the county seat of Rooks County, which has a population of 5,000.
Despite their small size, the town and county have a large commitment
to keeping its young people healthy, safe, and free from alcohol and
other drugs. Every year, the Rooks County Communities That Care
Committee hosts a Town Hall Meeting on substance abuse prevention.
Progress is being made. For example, according to the Rooks County Community Report—based
on the Kansas Strategic Prevention Framework data—binge drinking by
students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 declined from a high of 17.84
percent in 2011 to 11.43 percent in 2014.
Much of the work to achieve such prevention gains is performed by
the Rooks County Communities That Care Committee, formed in 1998 as a
countywide coalition for preventing underage drinking and other
high-risk youth behaviors. The Committee’s contributions to community
well-being include parent education and alternative activities for
youth. The Committee operates under the auspices of the Rooks County
Health Department.
Event Description
The Rooks County Communities That Care Committee uses its annual Town
Hall Meeting to report local data, confront unhealthy alcohol norms in
the community, and educate parents about their role in prevention. For
the 2014 event, the Committee also planned to reach community youth,
their parents, and other adults with information about the consequences
of adolescent alcohol use, including risks for death or injury on the
road and tips for preventing alcohol use by minors.
About 300 individuals—or 1 in 17 Rooks County residents—participated
in the April 9 event. The appeal of motivational speaker Jared Estes,
survivor of a fiery highway crash caused by an alcohol-impaired
driver, did much to attract the audience. Estes’ participation in a
radio talk show heard across northwest Kansas helped promote interest
in the Town Hall Meeting, prompting one youth group to make the 60-mile
trip to Stockton and to make plans to hold a similar event in their
community. Attendance was also prompted by the area churches, which
agreed to invite their traditional Wednesday night groups to the event.
Organizers also offered Visa gift cards as door prizes as an added
participant incentive.
Measures of Success
Many participating young people indicated via an informal post-event
quiz that they had learned something from the Town Hall Meeting that
would help them avoid alcohol in future. Parents volunteered that they
came away with a better understanding of why alcohol use by children
and adolescents is dangerous and what they can do to prevent it. Event
coordinator Lorraine Baughman received several calls from area
residents thanking her and the Rooks County Communities That Care
Committee for organizing the event. Baughman sees falling rates in the
prevalence of underage drinking in Rooks County in recent years as
clear evidence that the Committee’s work, specifically the annual Town
Hall Meetings, is effective.
Next Steps
The Committee will continue to educate county residents about
underage drinking as a serious public health issue and ways to prevent
it via the Rooks County Health Department’s Facebook page.
The successful collaboration with church leaders in Rooks County in
planning the 2014 Town Hall Meeting will be the basis for ongoing
efforts to enlist the aid of the area’s influential faith leaders in
persuading parents to keep children away from alcohol at home and to
support alcohol laws in the community. The Committee also will urge
churches to deliver prevention messages to youth directly. A 2015 Town
Hall Meeting will serve to update Rooks County residents on underage
drinking data and continuing progress in lowering its prevalence.
Contact
Lorraine Baughman
rooksco@ruraltel.net
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