Alcohol Use among Teens at Prom

In September 2015, Austin Hall Donovan, then eighteen, was sentenced to an 18-month jail term by a Maryland court after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter that led to the death of his high school colleagues on prom night (George, 2015). The prosecutors report indicated that Donovan was highly intoxicated at the time of the accident, reporting a blood-alcohol level of 0.11, which is even higher than the 0.08 adult limit when he was tested close to three hours after the incident (George, 2015). Donovan, then 17, was reportedly driving at 119mph in a residential area with a 35mph speed limit when he lost control of his convertible and hit a light pole and a tree, killing his friend Shawn Gangloff (aged 15) and severely injuring 17-year-old Max Dechter (George, 2015). The case brought to light the worries of parents with teenagers during prom.

According to Law for Kids (2016), prom is one of the most interesting seasons in the life of most teenagers, but one that a good number of parents dread. Available data indicates that on average, 2000 teens die from motor vehicle accidents every year, with prom season (April, may, June) accounting for 30 percent of these (Law for Kids, 2016). Every year, over 300 teens die in car accidents during prom weekends (Wilson, 2018). In 2013, the prom season accounted for 27 percent of teen motor vehicle accidents and translated to 676 deaths (Law for Kids, 2016). This assignment applies the constructs of the social-ecological model in developing an intervention geared at reducing alcohol use among teens during prom.

Social-Ecological Model and why it was Selected

The social-ecological model explains the occurrence of public health issues from a multidimensional approach that considers the physical and social context of an individual or community (CDC, 2015). The model looks at the occurrence of public health issues based on individual, relationship, community, and societal factors, and helps in developing effective interventions (CDC, 2015). It recognizes that an individual or communitys health is a function of interactions in their individual, community, social, political, and physical environments that shape their social, mental, and physical well-being (CDC, 2015).

Teenage alcoholism is a complex subject. People engage in alcoholism for different reasons that are result of many different influences in their lives. Varied factors drive teenagers to engage in alcoholism from parental influence to stress, peer pressure, and lack of knowledge on the costs of alcoholism. Very many factors determine whether or not a teenager is at risk of alcoholism. The social-ecological model is the most appropriate platform for studying teenage alcoholism as it considers the effect of different individual, relationship, community, and societal factors, thus allowing one to develop an intervention that addresses multiple levels. Studies have found multicomponent interventions to be the most effective in addressing college students drinking behaviour (Thadani et al., 2009).

Levels/Constructs of the Social Ecological Model

Individual Level

The individual level identifies the personal and biological factors that increase ones risk of alcoholism during prom (CDC, 2015). One of the fundamental individual factors would be past history of alcohol use (CDC, 2015). Studies have shown that college students who have previously taken alcohol are more likely to re-indulge if they get an opportunity during prom, graduation, and other functions that make it easy to acquire alcohol (Thadanu et al., 2009). Other individual-level factors that would drive the decision to engage in alcoholism during prom would include beliefs and attitudes that promote alcohol consumption, such as the belief that alcohol reduces problems; antisocial and impulsive behaviour; drug and substance abuse; and lack of knowledge on the costs of alcoholism. Interventions at this stage would include life skills training and education.

The life skills training would be offered at the school level and focus on helping students develop personal, social and self-management skills, teaching them how to resist negative social pressures, and influencing their attitudes and knowledge about alcohol use (Botvin & Kantor, 2000). In this case, the organizers would partner with school heads and parents to organize a one-week training program for the students in their school before prom. The topics to be covered in the life skills education program would be as follows:

Information and Skills Related to Alcohol Use: under this area, students would be trained on the consequences (bot short and long term) of using alcohol, the declining acceptability of alcohol use and other drugs, and statistics on alcohol consumption patterns to correct negative attitudes and normative expectations surrounding alcohol use (Botvin & Kantor, 2000). Further, the organisers will organize class demonstrations, role playing, and simulation exercises to demonstrate the effects of alcohol use and teach skills for resisting peer pressure and alcohol advertising when opportunities for using the...…The intervention will call for partnerships with religious institutions to foster religiosity among teenagers as a way of fostering positive behaviour. Through te partnership, students would, during school holidays, receive training on what religion says about alcoholism, how to foster male-female interactions guided by religion, ways of effectively using leisure time, among other topics.

Further, through religious institutions, the intervention will organize community sensitization campaigns where teens are sensitized about the dangers of alcohol use and accorded opportunities to use their energy to engage in constrictive activities such as sporting events and tree-planting exercises. Additionally, the intervention will organize sessions to train teenagers in the community on the dangers of alcoholism. This will involve partnering with local celebrities popular among the youth to come up with awareness-raising songs and mantra, from which posters will be produced and placed in strategic locations in schools, religious institutions, and in common areas popular among teens.

Evaluation of the Intervention

Evaluation will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the intervention at the end of one year. The evaluation will be conducted on two fronts: at the school level and the school district level. At the school level, teachers and school heads will conduct an evaluation exercise comparing the rates of incidents related to alcohol use during prom before and after the intervention. For instance, schools could compare the number of accidents and incidents related to alcohol use during prom in the years before and after intervention as a means of assessing impact. Evaluation at the school district level will involve comparing the number of incidents and accidents during prom in schools that undertake the intervention against those that do not undertake the intervention (control group). The organizers of the intervention will roll out the intervention in selected schools for a start and then roll it out in the rest of the schools in phases if the same is found to be effective. Schools that implement the program will be evaluated as the intervention group while those that do not will be grouped under the control group.

Conclusion

The selected intervention seeks to reduce alcohol use among teens at prom. It is based on the social-ecological model and focuses on addressing factors that encourage alcohol use at the individual, relationship, societal, and community levels. It is based on educating teens on the dangers of alcohol use, parental education, development of stringent policies around…