Serve Kids, Serve Time
In the spring of 2008, the Indiana Point of Youth (POY) launched a “Serve Kids, Serve Time” sticker campaign which specifically targets adults over the age of 21 who are likely to purchase alcohol for minor consumption.
After researching various sticker campaigns in Indiana and in other states, this initiative was developed in October 2007, by POY students who are also members of an Underage Drinking Taskforce. The effort will work in partnership with retail establishments in Indiana that sell alcohol and will rely on retailers to place the stickers on cases of alcohol, doors to alcohol coolers, kegs, and other prominent points of sale. The stickers display the (Indiana Code) penalty for purchasing alcohol for minors and strongly warn adults over the age of 21 against doing so.
“Since the safety of our young people is a shared responsibility, I am especially excited about this collaborative partnership between public and private organizations which will both cultivate and sustain relationships between youth and the communities in which they live and serve,” said Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) Executive Director, Neil Moore.
POY is a youth led advisory group that lends advice to the Governor’s Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana and other policy-makers on substance abuse, and underage drinking. The program is primarily funded with End Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) dollars awarded to Indiana from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Each year, as part of their membership, POY students are charged to develop a Statewide Action Plan (SWAP) that they can implement at the state and local levels under the guidance of their adult advisors. This year, in addition to addressing issues related to methamphetamine use, and prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse, reducing underage drinking was also among the students’ top priorities.
“While most of our outreach efforts are community-based, our goal is to call statewide attention to the problem of adults contributing to underage drinking, as we find that in many instances, alcohol is purchased for minors by older siblings, friends, and even parents,” said POY student Michael Timm.
For more information on how to display or distribute these stickers please contact us.
