The North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission introduced a new campaign in Chapel Hill to combat underage drinking across the state.
The Talk It Out campaign has been underway across the Tar Heel state since 2014 with an ambition to curb underage drinking in the state. And a new phase of the campaign was launched in Chapel Hill just before Labor Day.
ABC chairman Zander Guy said the initiative was an important piece of work to continue from the previous administration of Jim Gardner.
“It’s a no-brainer. We’re going to keep right on moving,” Gardner said while recalling a conversation he had with Gardner about ongoing initiatives during the leadership transition.
Guy said that the new phase of the Talk It Out campaign would focus on communicating to parents.
“Our goal is to prompt parents to simply understand that underage drinking is a problem and it can damage kids’ brains,” Guy said. “And we are urging our parents to take that key step to address it by talking to their children.”
Elinor Landes is the director of a local partnership between the Town of Chapel Hill and UNC to combat underage drinking. She said at the presentation that research showed that conversations between parents and children showed improvements in underage drinking percentages.
“The Chapel Hill coalition has called our campaign ‘A Conversation Worth Having,’” Landes said, “because we believe in the power of these conversations. And that is one of the greatest aspects of the Talk It Out campaign.
“At the end of the day, it’s about fostering a healthy relationship between parent and child through open, honest conversation.”
More information about this new phase is available here.
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