"A Summer to Remember, not a Summer to Forget"

This is the tag-line for our summer youth alcohol campaign (that I wrote about in November). This is a multi-media social marketing campaign with several 'partners' involved. The key messages are: "the majority of alcohol supplied to 14-17year olds is provided by parents or other adults(79%)"; and "Adults believe that if they provide the alcohol teenage drinking won't get out of hand. The reality is IT DOES! So what is your action plan? http://www.teentools.co.nz/ "

One group engaged in the campaign is the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty Off-Licence Alcohol Accord (OLAA). This is the first and only alcohol accord in the country for off-licence retailers. Almost all of the alcohol retailers in the Western Bay are members, including the supermarkets, liquor chains, corner stores and wine shops.

OLAA representatives participated in a focus group for the "Summer to Remember" campaign, and contributed to the design and content of the resources. We have now distributed counter mats for the liquor stores, and a flyer that contains information concerning the risks and responsibilities of supplying alcohol to under 18s. In total, 350 counter mats and 10,000 flyers were distributed to OLAA members. The supermarkets can't use the countermats, but instead offered to distribute flyers with every till receipt when alcohol is purchased. We have printed a further 30,000 flyers for Countdown, New World Mt Maunganui, and Pak'n'Save. It's so cool going into these stores and seeing the resources being displayed and used so positively by the retailers.

The second element in the campaign targets young people. We produced 2,000 'coloured zincs' as giveaways over the summer: by the Summer Ambassadors (employed by the Tauranga City Council), and 'The Edge' Roadrunners (radio station). We placed an advert in the Summer Activity Passport. The posters are on the backs of three buses for the summer period.

The third component is the 'brief interventions' with the Tauranga Hospital Emergency Department where youg people who present for treatment where alcohol is a contributing factor will be referred for followup within 48 hours by a trained counsellor. The counsellors will be managed by a local community-based Drug and Alcohol service provider. We are finalising the protocols and procedures for this. Evidence indicates this is a highly effective method for 'sheeting home' the realities of the risks and harms associated with out-of-control teenage drinking.

Kelly Barriball is our account manager at V Marketing (an agency in Tauranga that does the concept and design work for a lot of our projects). Kelly and I attended a hui in Wellington with ALAC (Alcohol Advisory Council) on Monday and Tuesday that was convened for the recipients of funding from their Community Alcohol Action Fund. It was a privilege to meet so many dedicated people from the length and breadth of NZ working in their communities to reduce alcohol-related harm. We were able to share some of the initiatives we are working on in Tauranga.

The issues facing parents concerning the provision of alcohol for under 18s are many - and most parents want to do the right thing for their teens. Tauranga Safe City has a websited dedicated for parents and the bewildering array of challenges they confront with their teens. For more information about this campaign, or any other matter visit http://www.teentools.co.nz/