Youth Survey Local Stores

— from Julie Pinardi —

The 8th grade Circle of Leaders finds local stores in our area care about our neighborhood and our youth. This is based on information the group collected while conducting a Community Assessment of Neighborhood Stores (CANS).

Over the past several weeks, the 8th grade students involved with Circle of Leaders have been surveying stores as part of the statewide effort to prevent underage alcohol use. On Orcas Island there are 5 retailers that sell alcohol year round. Of the 5 surveyed, we found that all of the stores have an extremely low amount of advertising of alcohol or tobacco inside their store, and in most cases no advertising on the outside of their stores.

“We know that alcohol advertising encourage youth to drink” said group advisor Julie Pinardi. “A 2006 study found that the more alcohol ads young people see, the more likely they are to drink. Visiting these stores gives us an understanding of how lucky we are to live in a community that supports our youth in making healthy choices and avoiding alcohol.”

“Its a bit scary for me to think about alcohol and tobacco companies intentionally marketing to people my age,” said student Margot Van Gelder. “We are lucky that there is so little marketing here on the island.”

The stores were surveyed as part of a statewide campaign to engage adults and youth in taking action to reduce underage drinking. The campaign, entitled Let’s Draw the Line Between Youth and Alcohol is sponsored by the Washington State Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking. The CANS is a simple, two-page form that community groups can use to gauge the availability of marketing of alcohol and tobacco at local stores. The form also collects information about the healthy foods.

“Doing the CANS survey made me realize just how lucky we are that our Orcas stores make a conscience effort not to market to the younger generation.” said student Emma Thoron.

“We’re drawing the line because alcohol is especially harmful to the still-developing teen brain” said Pinardi. “Teens who drink are more likely to experience school failure, assaults, unprotected sex, alcohol poisoning, and car crashes. They are also more likely to develop alcohol problems, compared to those who wait until they are 21 to drink.”

Circle of Leaders would like to thank Island Market, The Village Stop, Orcas Village Store, Country Corner and Ray’s General Store and Pharmacy for supporting our youth.

For more information about the Let’s Draw the Line campaign, email LDTL@dshs.wa.gov. For questions about the CANS survey, contact Paul Davis at Paul.Davis@doh.wa.gov. Information and tips for parents for preventing underage drinking can be found at www.StartTalkingNow.org. For information about 8th grade Circle of Leaders contact Julie Pinardi jpinardi@orcas.k12.wa.us