First Lady Sandra Deal Launches Campaign to End Underage Drinking

First Lady Sandra Deal introduced a proclamation calling August 2013 Alcohol Awareness Month on August 15, launching a new campaign in conjunction with the Governor’s Office for Children and Families and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to end underage drinking. 

At the Thursday morning press conference Deal read an excerpt from the proclamation to members of the media:

“Georgia’s children are our greatest resource and our most cherished gift.  It is imperative that they are able to remain healthy, productive and safe as they grow and learn so that they can live fulfilling lives. Alcohol abuse especially introduced at a young age can destroy both potential and lives.”

The new campaign, called Reel Change GA, encourages Georgia high school students to submit a 30-second video about why they choose not to drink as part of a statewide competition. 

Kay Manning, Associate Direction of Prevention & Intervention with The Council on Alcohol and Drugs, spoke on the logistic of the campaign.

“We’re going to host events for kids to do a pre-competition where they’re going to come up with titles for their videos and then they’re going to share it via social media to really kind of build the excitement and support,” Manning said.

The website will be live by the end of September and The Council on Alcohol and Drugs is developing a mobile app where students will be able to upload video directly from their cell phones. 

While the proclamation was read to members of the media, students across Georgia watched a promo video for the new campaign, which seeks to highlight the majority of students who do not drink alcohol.

“All of our students they saw the video,” Dr. Tasharah Wilson, principal of Cross Keys High School, said.  “We’re going to encourage all of our students to participate in the video competition, we’re really excited about it.”

Deal is committed to this campaign and to helping teens and preteens in Georgia build bright futures. 

 “We want them to be successful and choices make a difference,” Deal said.  “We hope that they can learn to make good choices and I’m pleased to know that so many of them have made the choice not to drink.”