Bixby students are hoping to make state alcohol laws stick in adults' minds
BY KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
Friday, February 01, 2013
2/01/13 at 5:47 AM
BIXBY - Some parents may get sticker shock this weekend if they buy their Super Bowl beer at Bixby's new Reasor's Foods store.
But it isn't the shock they might think.
On Thursday, a group of high school students put stickers on all the store's alcoholic beverage products to remind parents and other adults that the most common place for teenagers to get alcohol is their own home or a friend's home.
"We're trying to remind parents to keep an eye on their alcohol," Bixby Police Officer Harrell Kendrick said.
The prevention campaign was planned by a coalition that includes the state Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission, the Bixby Police Department, the Tulsa City-County Health Department and Bixby High School's Safe-Team class.
All of the students are members of Bixby's Positive Action for Safe Students - or PASS - Coalition.
Reasor's was also on board with the effort.
"We're doing this before the Super Bowl because it's a big party weekend," Kendrick said.
ABLE Agent Erik Smoot said: "In Oklahoma, if you furnish alcohol to a minor, it's a felony. This is a great campaign. Hopefully, it will get parents to stay on their toes."
Under the state's so-called social-host law, it also is unlawful for an adult to provide anyone younger than 21 a place to drink alcohol or consume drugs, he said.
Bixby High School's Safe-Team class focuses on issues that are important to kids, such as bullying, depression, suicide prevention, healthy relationships and substance abuse, said SafeTeam coordinator and teacher Ginnie Ishmael.
"Our kids are very concerned about their friends. They want to keep their friends and little kids safe," she said.
Eighteen-year-old Adam Laizure, a senior in the class, agreed that he and his classmates don't want friends to die because some adult has been careless with their liquor or beer.
"I've known a couple of friends who got beer by their parents or friend's parents," he said.
"People go out, get drunk, hop into a car, drive drunk (and) kill or injure themselves or someone else."
Terri Furr, a manager at the Bixby Reasor's, said the store's cashiers receive training on laws regarding the sale of alcohol.
"Our responsibility as a merchant is huge," she said. "We don't want to end up wondering if someone got the alcohol here that caused a drunk driving accident. It's scary."
When asked how effective the campaign might be, Smoot said: "That's the hardest part about prevention. It can't be measured."
Laizure said he took the elective SafeTeam class as a way to give back to his community.
"It's not just about taking a class," he said. "It's all about reality."
Original Print Headline: Teenagers hoping alcohol laws stick in adults' minds
Kim Archer 918-581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Bixby High School students place labels on beer Thursday at the Reasor's store. The labels are meant to remind adults to keep alcohol away from minors. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Bixby High School student Crystal Corona, with the help of ABLE Agent Erik Smoot, places labels on beer Thursday at the Reasor's store in Bixby. The timing of the effort coincides with Sunday's Super Bowl. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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