Community Corner

Responsible Social Hosting Campaign Gains Steam

Schools and parents across Middlesex County are spreading the message, along with the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, that teens should never be supplied with alcohol.

Take a drive down Route 154 in Haddam and you’ll see a 15-foot high photo of a hand in the classic “stop” pose. "I will be a parent, not a bartender" reads the message inked onto the palm of the hand. Three similar billboards will go up in Essex, Deep River and Chester. East Hampton drivers will see the same billboard in their town later this winter.    

It’s all part of the Responsible Hosting Campaign going on in the 15 towns of Middlesex County. Launched by the , the campaign is aimed at parents and teens who host parties where beer and other drinks are served to young people. State law prohibits anyone from serving guests under the age of 21 alcoholic beverages in their homes.

Whether or not parents condone youthful drinking or are even aware that it’s happening on their property, they can be arrested for the offense.  Teenage hosts with no adults at home have also been arrested in Connecticut under the law.

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In a 2010 MCSAAC survey, 82 percent of Middlesex County parents said they were against underage drinking, including “supervised” drinking. The Responsible Hosting Campaign supports and celebrates this parental majority.

In Cromwell, the campaign was kicked off in October with a media event at Willowbrook Spirit Shoppe featuring state Sen. Paul Doyle, State Rep. Christie Carpino, then-Cromwell First Selectman John Flanders, and students from Cromwell High School.

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The students hung Responsible Hosting posters of adult hands in front of beer bottles, bearing the message, "To get to alcohol—kids have to get—through us."

In Portland, First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield, State Representative Christie Carpino, Portland Youth Services Director Mary Pont, police officers and three local businesses – Brownstone Bottle Shop, Gildersleeve Spirit Shop, Portland Liquors and Tri-Town Foods – met in December to announce the roll-out of their campaign. All the participating liquor stores will distribute campaign literature.

The town of Clinton engaged parents through teachers at Morgan High and Jared Eliot Middle School, who have distributed brochures and postcards. The First Selectman’s Task Force on Substance Abuse plans to continue with campaign signage in its package stores in 2012.

Westbrook Public Schools delivered the message to all high school parents via an email blast from school superintendent Patricia Charles.

“It is a critical message to get out to parents and members of the community,” said Dr. Charles. “The bottom line is that through this campaign, we’re making adults fully aware of the dangers of social hosting. The main goal is to keep our kids safe.”

Westbrook sent the Responsible Hosting message to every household in town via its Parks and Recreation brochure. Campaign signage is prevalent at the town hall, town library, Stan’s Package Store and Cindy’s Package Store.

East Haddam and East Hampton public school systems distributed Responsible Hosting material at their respective high school open houses. And in East Haddam, where political signage from November’s elections has disappeared, similar four-by-eight-foot signage featuring the easily-identifiable Responsible Hosting logo is sprouting up around town.

In addition to its Route 154 billboard, area businesses got on board as well with campaign stickers on liquor store bags throughout the Haddam-Killingworth area. Coginchaug High School saw its high school students engaging adults at school fairs and open houses, discussing the merits of responsible hosting.  Students there also plan a liquor store sticker shock campaign in 2012.

Finally, parents in Chester, Deep River and Essex will not only see billboards going up, but their teen drivers will bring brochures home to them. Youth leaders have established an alliance with CrossRoads Driving School, which conducts driver’s education classes at Haddam-Killingworth and Valley Regional High Schools. Here, Responsible Hosting material is presented to students in the course as well as their parents.


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