The Holyoke Youth Task Force is underway with a data collection project to find out what the community knows about social hosting laws. In Massachusetts, it is against the law to allow anyone under 21, except for your own child or grandchild, to drink alcohol on property you own or rent. Further, you can be sued if your child or another teenager drinks alcohol in your home and then causes harm to themselves or someone else.
HYTF member organization youth are taking to their neighborhoods, grocery stores, and even the mall to survey parents on the realities and perceptions of serving alcohol to minors in the home. Not only will this data help shape the message of the next social marketing campaign implemented by the Holyoke Youth Task Force, it also draws attention to this important issue. Further, by opening up inter-generational conversations around alcohol, the young people are reminding adults that they are a major influencing factor in teen lives.
The HYTF is in need of new members on the Social Marketing committee. If you are able to donate a few hours a month, please contact
Rebecca Masters at (413) 532-6247, ext. 108 or email at rmasters@girlsincholyoke.org.
