Prevention Works

Binge Drinking: Not Just a College Problem

On October 20, police raided a bar in Fairfield, CT, and found more than 100 underage drinkers, many of them college students. While many debate whether the legal age for consuming alcohol should remain 21 or be lowered to 18, perhaps the question more important than who is drinking is how much people are drinking?

Binge drinking is the dangerous practice of consuming enough alcohol to bring a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume five or more drinks, and when women consume four or more drinks, in about two hours (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). While binge drinking is most often associated with college students, quick stats on binge drinking provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paint a larger picture of the problem. Notably, 70 percent of binge drinking episodes involve adults older than 25.

Binge drinking carries the risk of alcohol poisoning and other serious health consequences, and can put the drinker at greater risk for being victimized by crime. So, as crime prevention practitioners, how do we reduce the amount of binge drinking that occurs among adults who can legally purchase and consume alcohol? The CDC recommends increasing alcohol taxes and regulating where and when alcohol can be sold.

But another component to addressing binge drinking is increasing public awareness of the problem. Increasing awareness among adults may prove challenging. Many educational materials about alcohol abuse are directed at young people, with key messages about not drinking before age 21. But what materials target adults with messages about the dangers of binge drinking?

It’s Crime Prevention Month, a time to celebrate and enhance our crime prevention efforts. If you have implemented programs or developed materials about binge drinking that target adults in their 20s, I invite you to share them through a comment about this blog. Perhaps your work can inspire another practitioner to expand their alcohol abuse prevention efforts to address a new facet of the issue with a new population.

It Takes a Community To Raise a Citizen

It takes a village to raise a child. Those words were never more true than in the need for communities to come together and ensure that their disadvantaged youth get a fair deal in life and a chance to do something other than prison time. Doing so, after all, is the foundation of crime prevention. The story of how community organizations in Washington, DC, are working together to reduce teen murders and violence and keep the city safe, as reported in the daily Afro newspaper, is worth considering this Crime Prevention Month.

The author of the article in the Afro, Tyrone Parker cites Washington Metropolitan Police Department figures that show that city is on track for its lowest number of murders in 18 years—96 so far this year as opposed to 479 in 1991. While much of this drop can be attributed to the excellent community policing skills of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, and is partly due to the new crime fighting and crime prevention technology it is using, it is also the result, Parkers claims, of the extensive work done by community organizations to keep the peace and provide services to youth. In particular, he cites the work of his own group, the Alliance of Concerned Men (ACM), a nonprofit, community-based organization, which has facilitated peace treaties between numerous gangs both in inner Washington and throughout the metropolitan area, leading to “a geometric progression of nonviolent behavior” that has helped contribute to the low crime rate. ACM also runs programs for children and families, responds to urgent community problems, and has testified before both houses of Congress.

A network of community nonprofits in Washington also provides counseling or services related to substance abuse prevention and counseling; job readiness; summer jobs; family strengthening; cultural enrichment; life skills training; afterschool programs; college preparation; and conflict transformation, among many other programs. All help young people deal with the stress and temptations of growing up, all help families cope with the challenges of difficult lives, and all help defuse the tensions that can characterize communities that are mired in poverty and ripe for gang rivalries. In short, when the community pitches in to help its youngest and most vulnerable members, let alone its older ones, it helps itself at the same time. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Despite the successes of ACM and other organizations like it, more people need to be reached, and much more work needs to be done. If Washington is to continue to build on the success of these groups and give every citizen a fair and equal chance to thrive, get a job, and enjoy a decent life, it will need partnerships with schools, the faith community, businesses, and all levels of government. Some of those goals are enshrined in the ten action principles of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America. Others reflect the purposes of Crime Prevention Month. All reflect smart thinking that can save lives, reduce crime, and cut the costs of policing and corrections.

Across the Country, People Celebrate Crime Prevention Month

During Crime Prevention Month, law enforcement, community groups, and citizens are coming together across the country to create stronger partnerships and safer streets. Whether you’re in Florida, Arizona, or Washington, DC, you will see the effects of the Crime Prevention Month and Celebrate Safe Communities initiatives.

Many communities across the county have used the Celebrate Safe Communities initiative to kick off Crime Prevention Month. Strong partnerships between community groups and law enforcement are especially apparent in Miami, FL, and Marana, AZ.

In Miami, the Citizens/Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County has partnered with local law enforcement to put on events throughout the county for citizens at block parties and for youths at schools throughout the area. The events included visits to local elementary schools to promote Circle of Respect, a National Crime Prevention Council initiative to combat bullying and cyberbullying, and included visits from crime prevention icon McGruff the Crime Dog®. McGruff, through a partnership with Home Depot, made appearances and hosted information tables at local stores.

Many Arizona communities participated in Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods (G.A.I.N) as a part of the Celebrate Safe Communities initiatives. There were 15 events in neighborhoods throughout the state including ten in the town of Marana. These events were used to provide information to residents on how they can keep their homes, communities, and families safe from crime and emphasized the importance of every community member being involved in crime prevention.

In Washington, DC, NCPC, the National Sheriffs’ Association, U.S. Department of Justice, and Washington Area Mass Transit Authority (WMATA) Police have partnered to provide crime prevention, personal safety, and situational awareness information to Metro riders at four high-traffic stations in the downtown area. Metro riders were greeted in the morning by NCPC staff, WMATA police officers and McGruff, who handed out informational brochures. Riders at the Metro Center station were visibly excited to see McGruff and get information on how they could stay safe on and off the Metro.

Throughout the month there will continue to be events held across the country. The events may be part of Red Ribbon Week or Halloween Safety fairs but, like events focused on Crime Prevention Month or Celebrate Safe Communities, will accomplish a major goal, bringing law enforcement and community members together while focusing on the necessity of all citizens to be involved in keeping themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime.

Teenagers and Young Adults Beware of Crime in Web Communities

Let’s talk about the responsibility of teenagers and young adults in preventing crime in web-based communities like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Orkut etc. The social networking applications named above have many advantages and useful purposes and are used to promote various good causes. But, many good things come with unfortunate downsides as well. Popular social networking applications are being used as a platform for causing emotional distress among youth. In most cases these situations are being caused by the same teenagers and young adults who are also using these social networking applications.

Examples of such activities came to light recently when a concerned mother went to court and sued four teenagers for abusing her son emotionally and causing him a great deal of distress. The mother, Laura Cook, accused the four teenagers of creating a fake Facebook profile using her son’s real name. The profile in question, which at one point listed 580 friends, falsely portrayed Laura Cook’s son as gay and a racist. The profile, which was created using the boy’s real name, included his cell phone number.

This profile was seen by many who knew the boy personally. Many abusive messages were sent to him by other students at his high school. The boy in question was an athlete and belonged to many clubs that he was forced to quit after this incident. The boy’s siblings were also kicked out of various clubs. After an arduous process, the boy’s parents convinced Facebook to delete the profile. Even though the profile has been deleted, Laura Cook filed for defamation charges against the four teenagers who created the profile because the profile had been seen and read by many people and the damage was already done.

Teenagers can be very cruel and can cause pain both for themselves and others. These kids do not realize the extent of the damage their actions may cause to the individual targeted and their families as well. The kind of emotional trauma caused by such incidents can damage a person’s self-esteem in many ways and may lead to suicidal tendencies.

People who want to have fun at the expense of others should realize that they are not only doing things that are immoral but that they are also breaking the law and are spoiling their own future prospects because they are liable for punishment by the law for committing such cowardly acts. There are several methods of tracking misdoings by individuals on the Internet. The Internet Crime Prevention Cell has the means to track down people who commit crimes on the Internet. That is just what happened in the case of these four teenagers who were caught.

October is Crime Prevention Month. To get information on cyberbullying, visit the National Crime Prevention Council’s website. Also, see NCPC's safety tips for Halloween. Citizens and communities can also organize events by taking part in Celebrate Safe Communities initiatives, which take place during Crime Prevention Month and all through the year.