Build the Foundation

Although the Hardens were very disappointed and embarrassed by their kids’ behavior and poor judgment, they knew their kids did not act alone. If 100 teens were at their home for the party, then clearly their children were not the only ones engaging in these types of activities. They decided that they should meet with other parents from the high school to discuss their concerns. They talked to the school principal and arranged to have a classroom set aside one evening for a parent meeting. The principal also expressed concerns about these types of parties in the community, so she went one step further and sent a flyer home with all the students announcing the meeting. About a month after the “Harden Party,” a parent meeting was held to discuss alcohol and drug concerns in Danyaville. Judy Harden decided to lead the meeting since it was their home where the most recent party had occurred.

Out of a school with 1,200 students, 30 parents showed up for the meeting. The meeting began with the parents presenting a wide variety of opinions and concerns about the community alcohol and drug problems. Some parents mentioned that they too were worried about their children drinking, and they brought up concerns about tobacco and drug use as well. One mother mentioned that her daughter had gone to a rave party in Chicago where Ecstasy had been widely available. One father was adamant that it was each parent’s responsibility to make sure that his or her children did not drink or use drugs, and he blamed the Hardens for going out of town and leaving their teenagers unsupervised. Several heated discussions ensued over the causes and consequences of youth alcohol and drug use, and Judy recorded all of their ideas and concerns on the chalkboard. At the end of the meeting, the parents agreed that they needed to do something to keep their children safe and drug-free! The first meeting ended with that agreement, and the parents scheduled another meeting to discuss their next steps.

At the second meeting, 15 of the parents from the previous meeting attended. The parents decided to review each problem area that had been brought up at the earlier meeting. The list of problem areas included underage drinking parties, youth having easy access to alcohol in other situations besides parties, and rave parties with illicit drug use. The problem areas were further discussed in terms of how these problems adversely affected their community. The parents then began to prioritize the list to determine their first issue to combat. They wanted to choose a problem that they could get a handle on and reach a reasonably quick solution. For each of the three issues, the parents discussed what held the most importance for them personally, the severity of the problem, and how the elimination of each problem would positively impact the community.

Since the majority of parents were worried about these unsupervised parties with large quantities of alcohol, they reached a consensus that alcohol issues should be their initial focus area. Clearly, this issue was important on a personal level to the Hardens, but other parents were also concerned that they might never be able to leave town without worrying that something similar might happen at their home. The parents decided that in terms of severity, all three ranked high on their list of concerns. However, additional concerns such as date rape or their teens driving under the influence prioritized these parties as the primary issue to tackle.

The parents picked a name for their group, “Danyaville Parents Advocating Prevention” (DPAP), and developed a mission statement: “To prevent underage drinking and drug use so our youth can achieve their full potential.” With a formal name for the group and the development of the mission statement completed, the parents called it a night. They decided to meet again in 2 weeks to discuss their next steps. Since their group was now smaller, the Hardens agreed to host the meeting at their house.

At the third meeting, the parents brainstormed what other individuals or agencies in the community might be interested in addressing this issue. They also came up with a list of potential barriers to addressing the issue of underage drinking parties. They added this list of stakeholders and barriers to the previous one that detailed the youth alcohol and drug problems in their community. This process gave them an idea of where they were going and what they could be up against. The parents then discussed how their group would operate. They decided to hold meetings once a month, and that they would rotate the job of facilitating the meeting. They asked the school principal for a standing classroom reservation for the third Wednesday of every month. The principal was more than willing to assist them in their efforts, so she booked the classroom and announced each meeting in the monthly school newsletter.