Thank you for attending ‘Town Hall’ meeting
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
Editor,
I would like to comment on the Town Hall meeting that was held on Oct. 4 at the Joe McDonald Center at the Salish and Kootenai College in Pablo. I want to thank those of you who attended, especially the youth. The focus of this meeting was to address the issues of teenage binge drinking, DUIs, and what we can do as concerned parents and citizens and law enforcement to help prevent our youth from the dangers of alcohol.
Different strategies and ideas that came up were to have more parent involvement with their children, educate parents and children about the risks and consequences of binge drinking and drinking and driving.
We need to encourage parents to be models for our children and display responsible drinking. Everyone who sells or serves alcohol should be required to take the Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service class.
The court system should be required to make DUI offenders accountable and stiffen the laws, so maybe people will begin to think twice about drinking and driving, as they know the law will not allow them to manipulate the system. The young people that were at the meeting commented that having more for them to do would be a deterrent to the youth drinking issue.
I was pleased at the input from the audience. We have a valley of concerned people who want to keep our children safe. We need to look at every child and teach them to see their strengths. We are all responsible for our children. Let’s connect with our kids. I am sure they will make you smile.
Julia Roberts
Prevention Specialist,
Western Montana Addiction Services
