Community Mobilization

A key element of Parents Empowered’s success is our emphasis on local community partnerships. View our outreach and mobilization efforts below!

Events

Bear River Health Department

Bear River Health Department teamed up with Logan City’s Police Department and Parks & Recreation to deliver underage drinking prevention messaging throughout the popular Logan Rec Center. A custom-created exercise regimen surrounds the running track that also emphasizes skills parents can adopt to help keep their kids alcohol-free. And a newly created e-gaming room features messaging that encourages parents to plug in and play with their kids—like sharing a game of Minecraft.

Kearns Evidence2Success Coalition

Local family cooking classes, taught by chefs from Create Better Health—a USU Extension, promoted the importance of sharing meals and family conversations together to help prevent underage drinking. Spanish and English social media cooking videos were also geo-targeted to the Kearns zip code, alerting families to Bonding in a Bag kits with all the ingredients to make the meals featured in the videos. The free kits were distributed through local partners, Stan’s Market and Rancho Markets.

Layton Communities That Care (CTC)

Over 30,000 visitors to SeaQuest were exposed to underage drinking prevention messaging during Spring Break in April and throughout the month of May. During that time, the interactive aquarium hosted a family-friendly Parents Empowered scavenger hunt. As kids searched for clues on custom-illustrated plaques throughout the animal displays, it provided a natural opportunity for parents to start a conversation about the harms of underage drinking to a child’s developing brain. Kids who successfully completed the scavenger hunt received a prize.

Northeastern Counseling Center

The Uintah Basin In Celebration (UBIC) is a three-day family fun event that takes place every August in Roosevelt. It includes a baseball tournament marathon that runs from 7pm to 7am the next day. In preparation for the event, the baseball dugouts, fields, trash cans and even popcorn bags at the concession stand were blanketed with underage drinking prevention messages reminding parents, “Don’t strike out. Underage drinking changes how brains develop.” Large banners across the fences provided parental tips like the 5 Ws—5 questions parents can ask their kids so parents are aware of kids’ social activities and whether alcohol will be present.

South Davis CTC

Bountiful’s South Davis Recreation Center is unique because the facility is connected to their local junior high school. Parents routinely visit the facility for ice skating, swimming and basketball competitions. Now they’re greeted with messaging that shares underage drinking prevention skills for parents, including spending time with their kids, setting clear no-alcohol rules and staying involved in kids’ day-to-day lives. Multiple city parks throughout the community also feature Parents Empowered signage.

North Davis CTC

250 Davis County-area construction and public safety vehicles are serving as mobile billboards throughout the community, displaying messaging to help prevent underage drinking. Large magnets on the tailgates and sides of construction company’s vehicles remind parents their kids’ brains are still under development and need to remain alcohol-free for a bright future. Messaging on public service partners’ vehicles encourages parents to spend 15 minutes a day of one-on-one time with their child to strengthen relationships and keep kids’ brains healthy. The community-wide prevention effort received 13 new stories from statewide media.

Panguitch Prevention Coalition

Research shows kids are forming their opinions about alcohol between the ages of 9 to 13. That’s why Panguitch Prevention Coalition partnered with Panguitch Elementary School to highlight underage drinking prevention messaging on the large basketball pads in their gym, where they can be viewed by parents during volleyball and basketball games.

Summit County Health Department

In an effort to reach the underserved audiences of rural Kamas, large aquatic-themed prevention messages were installed at South Summit Aquatic & Fitness Center. Both Spanish and English signage encourages parents to provide early and clear disapproval of underage drinking. This messaging addresses local survey data that showed parents tended to have more favorable attitudes regarding underage alcohol use.

Weber Human Services

Research shows when kids feel close to their parents, they’re less likely to drink. That’s why Weber Human Services partnered with Morgan City and Weber-Morgan Health Department to provide an interactive family scavenger hunt along the trail at Riverside Park. As parents and kids walk the trail, they encounter camouflaged signs. Each sign provides information about the harms of alcohol to a child’s developing brain and gives families opportunities to discuss their family rules about not drinking before age 21. Picnic tables in the park pavilions are also wrapped with fun games families can play together to promote family bonding.

Tooele CTC

Tooele Library wanted an educational display that dramatically illustrated the importance of underage drinking prevention. So Tooele CTC partnered with Parents Empowered to create a floor-to-ceiling window display showing actual images of the brain and sharing facts about how alcohol negatively impacts a child’s still-developing brain. Additionally, they hosted an Escape Room experience for two days in January where families could try to escape Dr. Vorg’s Evil Laboratory by finding clues related to underage drinking facts.

Wendover Prevention Group

When Wendover Prevention Group reached out to Wendover High School about promoting underage drinking prevention, the principal wanted to focus on how kids remaining alcohol-free supported the school’s mission to “prepare college and career-ready students.” Because all kids need a healthy brain to fulfill their potential, Parents Empowered developed a 10’x10’ mural sharing quotes from students about their college/career hopes and dreams, and how an alcohol-free brain was essential to their success.

Iron County Prevention Coalition

Using federal prevention grant monies, Iron County Prevention Coalition helped sponsor the Larry H. Miller Utah Summer Games in Cedar City. The annual Southern Utah University event runs the entire month of June and features athletic competitions for all ages and abilities. With an average of 9,600 participants and 50,000 spectators in attendance, it was the perfect venue for reaching parents about helping their kids’ reach their peak performance by keeping their brains healthy and alcohol-free. Parents Empowered developed 10 Hydration Stations with tents, rolling coolers and water jugs and a Parent Podium reminding parents they’re the #1 reason kids choose not to drink.

St. George Reach4Hope Coalition

To address LGBTQ+ kids’ increased risk for underage drinking and suicide, a community-wide partnership was developed between St. George City, Reach4Hope, Encircle, Washington County School District, Southwest Utah Public Health Department and Parents Empowered to promote an interactive mural installation at Town Square Park. The Go Together mural with a custom-created tandem bike encourages parents and child to snap a photo for social media and is the second in a series of murals that originally began in Utah County. The mural messaging encourages parents, “Whatever your child’s journey, go together.”

Associated Food Stores

Statewide, Associated Food Stores displayed signage, floor clings, door wraps and more, encouraging parents to “Follow the recipe for a child’s healthy future.” Additionally, Associated Food Stores donated paid media opportunities, including radio ads, display ads, digital billboards and social media posts. The partnership was launched with a press event featuring President of the Utah Senate Stuart Adams, DABC Executive Director Tiffany Clason, VP of Associated Food Retail Operations Darin Peirce and many others.

Utah Valley Drug Prevention Coalition

Utah Valley Drug Prevention Coalition and Parents Empowered partnered with Encircle-Provo to create a public education campaign aimed at parents of LGBTQ+ youth. The campaign was based on SHARP survey data indicating Utah’s LGBTQ+ youth are at a higher risk for underage drinking. To bring awareness to the powerful, protective influence parents have in their kids’ lives, a large, interactive mural was created with a tandem bike in front and the message, “Whatever your child’s journey, go together.”

Deseret News “Chit Chat” Partnership

As parents and kids socially distanced together at home because of COVID-19, Parents Empowered and Deseret News partnered to create a new way that parents and kids could deepen their family bonds ang get to know each other better. A virtual deck of digital “Chit Chat” cards was distributed at deseretnews.com during the first weekend of April, one of the busiest online news weekends of the year. The cards were viewed more than 40,000 times.

Parents Empowered Chit Chat Game

Uintah & Union Prevention Advisory Coalitions

Northeastern Counseling Center created 50 “Do You Know?” videos for a year-long Facebook campaign. These videos address parents of youth living in Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties, featuring messages from community partners about the importance of family bonding, setting clear boundaries, and monitoring children to help prevent underage drinking. A new video was released each week and reached every sector of the community including local politicians, community leaders, school districts, business owners, and parents.

Southwest Behavioral Health

Southwest Behavioral Health provides shuttle bus service to its low-income residents to help them travel to various health and wellness appointments in the community. When some additional underage drinking prevention funding became available, they asked Parents Empowered to develop educational wraps for the buses that would deliver a clear call to action. The colorful messaging encourages parents to invest 15 minutes a day, having fun with their child, to help prevent underage drinking.

Box Elder Safe Communities Coalition

The Box Elder Safe Communities Coalition, sponsored by the Bear River Health Department, partnered with two local parks in the Brigham City and Tremonton areas to deliver the Parents Empowered message. From huge wall signs, baseball fence banners, and even pillars at the community pool entrance, our prevention messages were everywhere. As pandemic restrictions eased, these skill-building prevention messages were perfectly positioned for maximum exposure and a timely message.

Roy Communities That Care

This partnership was formed to engage parents and raise awareness of the key role they play in their kids’ lives. The Roy Hope Center was chosen as an ideal venue because of its large basketball court. Parents routinely walk through the gym daily to pick up their kids from afterschool programs, so basketball-themed messages were installed to address proven prevention skills.

North Davis, Layton & South Davis CTCs

Bowman’s Market became the host of a family-friendly community celebration and press event featuring free donuts, food trucks, prize giveaways, a photo booth, scavenger hunt, and family resources. The partnership also included a unique educational campaign at seven other grocery stores which featured custom signage that encouraged parents to “Learn the Recipe for Kids’ Healthy Futures.”

Panguitch Dugout Wraps

Using Panguitch High School’s colors and mascot, large murals delivered underage drinking prevention messages to parents on the back of the dugouts and harms messaging tailored to kids on the inside. Because the baseball fields are a common gathering place for families, the murals will provide a great conversation starter for parents to talk with their kids about the harms of alcohol to the developing adolescent brain.

Roy Police Social Videos

Additionally, the Roy CTC partnered with the Roy City Police Department to develop social media videos about the hazards of underage drinking, which were launched at an event with the Roy City Mayor and Roy City Police Chief.

Kearns Evidence2Success Coalition

Evidence2Success worked with the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center as their partner, a local facility recognized for their premier aquatic facilities. Parents Empowered messaging was placed in prominent locations, including the 30-foot dive tower, that reminded parents there should be “no horsing around” and to set clear no underage drinking rules. Large, custom-illustrated signage with an aquatic theme was placed throughout the facility to serve as conversation starters for parents and kids.

Tooele City Communities That Care

Using their strong working relationship with Tooele City Parks & Recreation, this coalition co-branded a Tooele Summer Passport with Parents Empowered messaging that was distributed to parents and kids for the summer. The Passport provided activities to strengthen family bonds and gave kids a participation prize for completing the activities.

San Juan/Utah Navajo Tribe Partnership

San Juan County Prevention Action Collaboration (SJCPAC) Coalition worked with five local high schools and one middle school to create custom, basketball-themed messaging about the “Best defense against underage drinking.” All messaging was adapted to address relevant cultural factors including grandparents as a secondary parental influence in kids’ lives, advocating what to do rather than what not to do, and using familiar vernacular for the culture, etc.

FANX & Salt Lake County Libraries

Parents Empowered partnered with FanX and Salt Lake County Libraries to create an interactive educational booth about building and protecting healthy brains. During the three-day event, Parents Empowered created “Dr. Vorg’s Evil Laboratory,” a unique and eye-catching escape room experience, where teens and families worked together to foil the doctor’s evil plot to rob kids of their healthy brains by drinking underage.

Weber Communities That Care

Oversized, hand-illustrated murals of sea-life creatures made up of alcohol-related items were installed at North Shore Aquatics. All summer long, families that visited were surrounded by messaging that encouraged parents to have an ongoing dialogue with their kids about harms of underage drinking to the developing brain.

Bear River Health Department

The Eccles Ice Center, a popular family destination with over 200,000 annual visitors, was the site for this large-scale underage drinking installation. At the Ice Center, local parents can see ice skating-themed messages placed at the main entrances, throughout the lobby, in the locker rooms, and along the perimeter of the rink. This community partnership encourages parents to spend time with their kids to help strengthen their bond as well as other underage drinking prevention skills they can use in their own families.

Bryce Valley Prevention Coalition

Parents Empowered repurposed existing art for the basketball gym at the local recreation center that addressed the hazards of underage drinking and how parents can help kids avoid those harms. Large vinyl wall clings spoke to the many roles of parents in their child’s life—as a coach, a referee, and a teacher. Parents were encouraged to help “protect your team” against underage drinking by using the 5 Ws to ensure they’re in an alcohol-free social environment.

DABS Liquor Stores

Because most alcohol in Utah, except beer, is sold in state liquor stores regulated by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, these stores provide an excellent and efficient way to communicate with parents who have alcohol in the home. Posters, checkout-stand clings and floor displays were distributed to all 50 liquor stores and participating package agencies throughout the state. Messaging reminds parents their strong disapproval of underage drinking is the #1 reason kids choose not to drink and that keeping kids’ brains healthy and safe helps create bright futures.

Wasatch Behavioral Health

Wasatch Behavioral Health utilized federal prevention grant monies to engage Parents Empowered in developing a scavenger hunt that could be placed along hiking trails. The camouflage-colored signs delivered an interactive, educational message underscoring the fact that in nature and parenting, the most obvious dangers can be closer than you think yet hard to see—just like underage drinking in the home. Parents and kids were encouraged to work together to find each sign, answer the questions in a scavenger hunt booklet, and turn in the completed booklet for a prize.

In the News

20/21 Media Montages

Davis Bowman’s Grocery Store

Wasatch Mountain State Park 1

Wasatch Mountain State Park 2

Wasatch Mountain State Park 3

Provo Encircle Partnership

Kearns Oquirrh Park Aquatic Center 1

Kearns Oquirrh Park Aquatic Center 2

Associated Foods 1

Associated Foods 2

Kearns Evidence2Success

Fox13 30-minute Special

Fox13 SeaQuest Coverage

ABC4 David Wakins TV Coverage

KUTV Springbreak Takeover

KUTV Alcohol Awareness Month

Fresh Living TV Coverage

DABC TV Coverage

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Articles

America’s Ambivalence About Youth and Alcohol May Put Kids at Risk

A six-year study of adolescent decision-making by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Liberty Mutual Insurance revealed spikes in youth alcohol use (between 6th and 7th grades) and other drug use (between 8th and 9th grades)… Read more on Psychology Today.

A Survey Has Found That Your Preteen Is Likely Thinking About Alcohol

A new survey has found that your preteen is likely thinking about alcohol and other substances, and it is important for parents to be aware…Read more on moms.com.

How

Help provide fun, planned activities and supervision so your kids’ social environment excludes underage drinking.

How

Why

All kids need their parents’ help to stay alcohol-free and protect their healthy brain.

Why