Teens in Naperville are reminding adults this weekend that preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility.
On Friday, members of the Youth Advisory Committee, or YAC, tagged 200 bottles of wine, beer and spirits being sold in the liquor department of the Jewel/Osco at Ogden and Aurora avenues in Naperville as part of the second annual regional Project Sticker Shock, a youth-led initiative to change adult attitudes about selling and providing alcohol to minors.
The campaign was conducted in conjunction with Parents and Teens Together, the DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team and the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.
Naperville YAC members Edie Blaze, 17, and Emily Pavuk, 16, were among the high school students in municipalities throughout DuPage and neighboring counties who were part of the tagging effort in Jewel/Osco stores.
“People don’t take addiction seriously enough, especially in the teenage community,” Blaze said.
Pavuk, who will chair YAC in the coming school year, said she involves herself in law enforcement causes, and Project Sticker Shock is a perfect fit. “Our mission is to spread the message wherever ... we can,” she said.
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth and is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths annually among minors. Data from the Illinois Youth Survey for DuPage County says underage drinking is an issue for 21% of DuPage high school sophomores. Among high school seniors, 40% reported drinking alcohol in last 30 days, survey results show.
“Sticker Shock sends a compelling message to parents and other adults about underage drinking, especially since that message is coming from teens,” said Jordan Esser, project coordinator of PLT, a community coalition working to reduce youth substance use and increase mental wellness among DuPage County youth.
The Sticker Shock campaign is held the Friday before Father’s Day is because of Doug Petit, a member of PATT, an organization dedicated to providing positive alternatives to underage drinking.
It was on that day in 2005 that Petit’s 16-year-old son, Johnathan, attended a party in Hanover Park where a parent supplied alcohol to underage teens. Johnathan got drunk and was thrown out of the party; his body was found four days later in a Carol Stream retention pond.
Petit said the Sticker Shock campaign is a reminder to any adult that it’s wrong to serve alcohol to minors.
“Adults need to set a better example for kids,” Petit said. “When adults supply alcohol to youth it sends them a very mixed message. Underage drinking is not only a teen problem; this is a community problem.”
For more information on Project Sticker Shock and PLT, go to www.DuPagePLT.org.