Before Thanksgiving, our North Central Youth Leadership Council (NCYLC) did a “sticker shock” campaign in Leominster. We provided coasters to restaurants and put stickers on the bags at liquor stores to tell consumers about the consequences of providing alcohol to minors. This is a way of engaging youth, customers, and business owners in preventing underage drinking while enhancing leadership and advocacy skills for our youth. We thank our youth and liquor stores/restaurants for participating in this project!
Some reactions from our youth who participated in the project:
“The event itself was pretty nice, I liked the responses of the restaurants and gas stations much more than the liquor stores.”
“I had never been into a liquor store before so it was weird being in there. It was kind of cool putting on the stickers because I knew that the bags would directly be in the way of anyone who buys alcohol. Since humans are naturally curious, they would probably read it to know what the purpose was. Because of this fact, I knew people would be affected by the bags, even if it means they just read the stickers.”
“I felt good to know even something as simple and easy as we could make a difference was not something very in your face that turned consumers off yet was strong enough to grab your eye. I hope that it leads to less buying for minors and reminds those of the great consequences that are involved with doing so.”
“I think “sticker shock” is a very important gesture for our community because we actually go out and do field work rather than work behind the scenes. This is one of my favorite activities.”