Natick High Students Champion Safety During Prom & Graduation Season

Editor’s Note: In full transparency, the following press release and photos were submitted to SOURCE media for publication.

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NATICK – With the Natick High prom on Friday, May 20 and graduation just around the corner, students and community members across Natick are coming together to prevent and reduce underage drinking.

Student leaders from Natick Above the Influence (NATI), a youth group of the town’s Natick 180 Coalition (the town’s community resource for addiction education, prevention, and recovery) have recently visited local alcohol retail outlets to place stickers on cases of beer and other alcohol products that say, “Natick youth want to remind you that it is ILLEGAL to buy alcohol for minors. Only 21+.”

NATI’s mission is to raise awareness amongst peers that not everyone in high school chooses to use substances, and to promote a healthy lifestyle in general.

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NATI youth and the Natick 180 Coalition would like to thank Austin Liquors Too, Dion’s, Natick Wine & Spirits, Nine East Emporium, Town Line Liquors, and Wegmans Natick for participating in this year’s campaign to reduce underage drinking.

With these retailers’ support, NATI youth were able to place 2000 stickers on alcohol merchandise throughout Natick!

This prom and graduation season, the Natick 180 Coalition encourages local adults to not provide alcohol to anyone underage or host underage parties where alcohol use by minors is condoned.

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Instead, Natick 180 supports the annual After Prom Party (https://www.natickhighptso.com/), as a fun,
substance-free alternative that runs midnight to 5 a.m. after prom. This event brings parents great peace of mind to know that their youth are able to enjoy activities all night long in a
safe, adult-chaperoned environment.

Natick 180’s Steering Committee Chair, Sarallyn Keller said, “our prevention framework design in the schools, with families, and with the local retail alcohol outlets promoting the message that we don’t want young people to drink alcohol before they are 21, is a strong protective factor that results in the engagement of fewer risk-compromising behaviors. We are fortunate in Natick to have a good relationship with many of the local retail alcohol outlets. It is important for young people to hear caring messages from a variety of adults in their life. Young people aren’t just hearing the message in health class that underage drinking is harmful, but seeing the Sticker Shock stickers shows that their community cares about this issue too, and we have an expectation that young people won’t engage in underage drinking. I’m proud to be a part of this community engagement work with Natick 180”.

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For more information about local efforts to prevent underage drinking and youth substance use,
or to learn more about how you can prevent and address substance use in the community, please
visit Natick 180’s website at www.natick180.org or contact Katie Sugarman, Prevention and
Outreach Program Manager, at 508-647-6623 or csugarman@natickps.org.