Parents, teachers, school officials, youth, and community members are invited to attend a national town hall meeting regarding the prevention of underage drinking from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, at the Wharton Nursing Building on the campus of Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Nursing at SAU, this town meeting will allow participants to discuss and raise awareness of the underage drinking issue. The meeting is co-sponsored by HEALTH in Columbia County, in collaboration with the federal government’s Interagency Coordinating Committee for the Prevention of Underage Drinking.
Participants will brainstorm new ways to address this issue in Columbia County. They will also be educated about the impact underage drinking has on the community.
New data shows that 26.7 percent of sixth-grade students in Columbia County have tried alcohol before, and 51.9 percent of high school seniors reported using alcohol in the past 30 days. These findings are significantly higher than both state and national data in these areas.
The Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment Student Survey 2004 was conductedthrough the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Division of Behavioral Health Services Arkansas Department of Human Services.
For more information about this town hall meeting, call Dr. Golden Tradewell, chair of the SAU Department of Nursing, at 870-235-4330.
