Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care (CTC) have partnered with the DUI Council of Lancaster County to produce a community-based awareness campaign they’ve titled “Keep Our Youth Safe.”  This four-prong approach to raising awareness, particularly to the risks and consequences of alcohol use by youth, includes Project Sticker Shock.

Project Sticker Shock is designed to unite communities with a clear, concerted zero tolerance message regarding the access of alcohol by minors.  The prom and graduation season are targeted because of increased underage drinking incidences that typically occur during that time.

On Thursday, April 26, youth from Elizabethtown College’s SPARC (Students Promoting Awareness and Responsible Choices) and Elizabethtown High School joined together to conduct the Project Sticker Shock campaign at English Brothers Beer Distributor.  The youth placed stickers on cases of alcoholic beverages.  The sticker bears the message “Keep Our Youth Safe.” Don’t Provide Alcohol To Minors.  Make the Right Choice.  The Safe Choice.  The Healthy Choice.”   Later that same day, they gathered at Brother’s Pizza to place stickers bearing the same message on take-out/delivery pizza boxes.

Project Sticker Shock is just one facet of a four-prong approach to public awareness in Elizabethtown that will include billboards with the “Keep Our Youth Safe” message, and the distribution of educational material describing the statewide 1-888-UNDER21 tip line that anonymous callers can use to report underage drinking in progress or planned, as well as establishments serving minors.

“The motivation behind this project is the well-documented research that proves the younger a person begins drinking (especially prior to age 15), the more likely he/she is to develop an addiction or drinking problems later,” stated Barb Zortman, coordinator of the DUI Council of Lancaster County.  Zortman went on to add that “underage drinking is the leading contributor to death from injuries, which is the leading cause of death for those under the age of 21.  We’re just trying the stop the problem before it starts.

In Pennsylvania, any adult who provides alcohol to anyone under 21 – even their own children – or anyone who makes or sells a false ID card will receive a mandatory fine of $1,000, and $2,500 for each subsequent offense.  According to recent public opinion surveys, many adults are not aware of the law and its penalties.  Project Sticker Shock is designed to raise public awareness to the law, and to reduce and eliminate access to alcohol by minors.