SRSLY Manchester has kicked off the Parents Who Host Lose the Most Campaign

SRSLY Manchester has kicked off their Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign. This is a public awareness campaign educating communities and parents about the health and safety risks of serving alcohol at teen parties. It encourages parents and the ENTIRE community to send a unified message that teen alcohol consumption is unhealthy, unsafe, and unacceptable.

The program takes place at state and local levels, concentrating on celebratory times for youth, such as homecoming, holidays, prom, and other times when underage drinking parties are prevalent. Graduation is quickly approaching and is often associated with an increase in underage drinking. Graduation parties are often viewed as a time when adults consider hosting parties and providing alcohol to youth. Many view underage drinking as a rite of passage.

Here in Manchester, you can help raise awareness of the consequences of hosting teen parties where alcohol is provided. Pick up a FREE Parents Who Host, Lose the Most lawn sign at the Manchester Middle School Main Office, Manchester District Library, or next to the Big Red Barrel outside of the Sheriff’s sub-station on the lower level of Village Hall.

In Michigan, it is a violation of the law to knowingly allow possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage or controlled substance by an underage person. Adults who are charged with this violation face a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 30 days or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. For a second or subsequent violation the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 90 days or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

SRSLY Manchester explained that there are consequences to beyond legal ones.

Providing alcohol to minors can be damaging to both the parent AND child’s reputation. In small towns, it is not uncommon for children or households to become “black listed” by other parents. This can have a powerful effect on children when they find out from friends that their parents have “forbid them from spending time with them or going to their house.” Sometimes it is the unforeseen result of our choices that can be most devastating.

Additionally, alcohol is especially damaging to adolescent brains which are still developing. It contributes to numerous injuries, motor vehicle crashes, and sexual assaults. The alcohol you buy or provide to an underage drinker so they can “have fun” could end up contributing to someone being injured or killed.

Parents are sometimes tempted to allow underage drinking in their homes under the false notion that it is safer under supervision. Young people can die from alcohol poisoning at a home as easily as they can anywhere else. It's important to remember alcohol kills more young people than all illegal drugs combined. Parents who knowingly allow underage children to drink alcohol while under their supervision are sending a dangerous message to children; it is okay to illegally drink alcohol.

The fact is, underage drinking is hazardous to the health and safety of our children and parents play a major role in their child’s decision to make healthy choices.

For more information, contact Lindsay Hannah at 734-476-0686 or Lindsay@srslymanchester.org. To learn more about the SRSLY Manchester Coalition please visit their website HERE. Check out the YouTube Video made Manchester students about the Parents Who Host Lose the Most Campaign HERE. The Parents Who Host Lose The Most Campaign is developed by the Drug Free Action Alliance. To learn more, click HERE.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.