Watch Ur Bac Alcohol Awareness Program

WATCH UR BAC ALCOHOL AWARENESS PROGRAM

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in cooperation with Texas Department of Transportation

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.

WHAT WE DO

Promote alcohol awareness, the dangers of impaired driving, and friends watching out for friends. • General alcohol awareness education • Signs of alcohol poisoning • Underage drinking • Binge drinking • Impaired driving • Social hosting

WHY WE DO THIS

In 2013, 1,089 people were In 2013, the killed in traffic average crashed where a driver was under breath test the influence of was 0.148. alcohol. Educate. Prevent. Empower. In 2013, Change. 74,792 In 2013, people were Harris County (Houston) had arrested for 2,938 DWI DWI by DPS crashes. alone.

Source: Texas Dept. of Transportation, 2014

1 PEER TO PEER PROGRAM

Peer to Peer program will provide education to youth regarding alcohol misuse. Goals • To utilize minors with alcohol-related offenses as peer leaders to educate youth about the dangers and consequences of alcohol use through testimonial stories.

Objectives 1. Identify what a standard drink is. 2. Identify signs of alcohol poisoning. 3. Increase knowledge of alcohol laws and misuse by minors.

Photo credit: Talk to Frank

PILOT PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

• Met with College Station Municipal Court to present plan and introduced the idea of 2 for 1 community service hours. Step 1 • Scheduled additional meetings with judges/court personnel.

• Identified potential locations for conducting programs. Step 2 • Screened potential peer educators.

• Scheduled program dates and times; set host expectations. Step 3 • Conducted programs with peer educator.

• Evaluated each defendant’s experiences with the program. Step 4 • Evaluated select host sites.

PILOT PROGRAM RESULTS

• A 50% gain in knowledge was demonstrated from the pre-test to the post-test. • Defendants offered to volunteer with the program at a future time. • Host sites felt their youth were successfully educated. • Participating court was satisfied with the knowledge the defendants gained and what the community learned.

2 PROGRAM OUTLINE

• Coordinators from the court will complete training. • Identify locations for peer speaking opportunities. • Interview defendants. • Schedule and conduct programs. . Conduct pre and post-tests at select locations. . Watch UR BAC standard presentation. . Offender assists with program through testimony. • Evaluation by offender of experience with program. • Evaluation of program from host sites. • Evaluation of program from the trained personnel.

SCREENING PROGRAM CANDIDATES

• Consist of several questions to assess if the peer would be suitable for this program. • Screening interviews could be conducted by phone or in person. • Sample interview questions consist of: . What type of offense have you been charged with? . Have you attended the required court- ordered alcohol education class? . How has this personally impacted you? . How has this impacted your relationships with your family and friends?

SAMPLE PROGRAM

• Arrive and set up • Introduce speakers and conduct pre-test at select locations • Short PowerPoint presentation, including video • Defendants present their story • Q&A session • Post-test at select locations where pre-test was given • Dismissal • Coordinator would complete any paperwork needed for the offender

3 POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

• Schools (student athletes, health classes, criminal justice classes) • Teen Court • After-school programs • Faith-based organizations • Boys & Girls Club • 4-H or FFA groups . Contact Watch UR BAC for additional contacts in your area.

QUESTIONS

Bobbi Brooks Program Manager 979-862-8325 [email protected] Twitter.com @WatchURBAC Laura Dean-Mooney Program Coordinator 979-862-1911 [email protected] Facebook.com Janet Sandera Program Coordinator Watch UR BAC 979-458-0124 [email protected]

Tanner Kilpatrick Program Assistant Instagram 979-845-2444 [email protected] @watchurbac

WATCHURBAC.TAMU.EDU

Watch UR BAC PEER TO PEER EDUCATION OUTLINE

 Court Coordinators will complete training.  Identify locations for peer speaking opportunities.  Interview defendants.  Schedule and conduct programs. o Conduct pre and post-tests at select locations. o Present Watch UR BAC PowerPoint. o Defendants share their alcohol-related experience with the audience. . Sample program could be as follows, but not limited to  Arrive and Set up  Introduce presenters and conduct pre-test at select locations  Short PowerPoint, including videos  Offenders would speak  Q&A session  Post-test at select locations where pre-test was given  Dismissal  Coordinator completes any necessary paperwork for the defendant  Evaluation by defendant of experience with program.  Evaluation of program from program site hosts.  Evaluation of program from the trained personnel (Must be submitted to Watch UR BAC).

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service Watch UR BAC Alcohol Awareness Peer to Peer Program

Table of Contents

1. Peer to Peer Facilitator Guide………..……………………………………………………………………………….3

2. Alcoholic beverage laws……………………………………………………………………………………………..….4

a. Minimum drinking age law

b. Texas Zero Tolerance

3. What is a “standard” drink?...... 5

a. Types of alcoholic beverages……….……………………………………………………………..……..5

b. BAC Levels and binge drinking………….………………………………………………………..……...6

4. Alcohol Poisoning signs………………………………………………………………………………………………….6

5. The consequences of alcohol misuse………………………………………………………………….………….7

a. Carson’s Story

i. 911 Lifeline Law

PEER TO PEER FACILITATOR GUIDE

This additional information will serve as a guide to educate your audience and make your program successful. Throughout the document you will see this symbol , which denotes a talking point.

These are important pieces of information that must be shared. The talking points are also helpful for making you feel comfortable when conducting each peer to peer education session.

HELPFUL HINTS

Review defendants’ presentation prior to them sharing their experience.

Discuss arrival time with defendants and appropriate dress code (i.e., court‐appropriate attire).

Ensure program location has appropriate audio/video equipment prior to presentation.

Provide pre‐tests to certain locations when appropriate (i.e., send to teacher to administer prior to your arrival if time is limited). Administer post‐tests at the locations where pre‐tests were provided.

Remind all participants to bring necessary identification when presenting at a school.

The Minimum Drinking Age Law The legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21 years old. Those who are not at least 21 years old and who consume alcoholic beverages are violating the law and can face legal penalties. According to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), minors who purchase, attempt to purchase, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages, including minors who appear intoxicated in public or misrepresent their age to get alcohol, face the following consequences:  Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500  Alcohol Awareness class  8 to 40 hours of community service  30 to 180 days loss or denial of driver’s license

If the minor is 17 years old or older and the violation is the third offense, the offense is punishable by a fine of $250 to $2,000, confinement in jail for up to 180 day or both, and automatic driver’s license suspension. All previous alcohol‐related convictions will result in a one year driver’s license suspension if the minor does not attend the alcohol awareness training required by the judge (TABC website).

Texas Law Texas has a zero tolerance law, which means that any detectable amount of alcohol in the minor’s system is unacceptable while operating a motor vehicle.

The consequences for the Class C misdemeanor of driving under the influence of alcohol by a minor include:  punishable by a fine up to $500  Attendance at an alcohol awareness class  20 to 40 hours of mandatory community service  30 days driver's license suspension.

Minors who purchase, attempt to purchase, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages, as well as minors who are intoxicated in public or misrepresent their age to obtain alcoholic beverages, face the following consequences for their FIRST offense:

 Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500  Alcohol awareness class  8 to 12 hours community service  30 days loss or denial of driver's license

(Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code)

Talking point: Each law shall be discussed precisely. It is important that each participant understand underage drinking laws. A good way to ensure that they remember the law is to provide the information and then ask a few questions that will allow them to give you the answer. (e.g. In the state of Texas, how many hours of community service will be required for

a 1st offender? What class misdemeanor is providing alcohol to a minor?)

WHAT IS A “STANDARD” DRINK? The legal drinking age is 21. A standard drink, intended for those 21 years and older, differs based on the type of alcoholic beverage that is being consumed. The figures shown below are various sizes of alcoholic beverages, but each beverage has an equal amount of pure alcohol and is considered a “standard” drink.

Talking point: Note that while each alcoholic beverage is different in size they are all equal in the amount of alcohol by volume. This information is not explicitly presented to the Peer to Peer audience, rather, this information is to aid the facilitator in answering questions.

Types of Alcoholic Beverages There are multiple types of alcoholic beverages such as wine, distilled spirits, beer, ale or malt liquor. It is important to know what you are drinking. Alcohol by volume (ABV) is the amount of ethanol in a drink compared to the entire volume of the drink. To determine the proof of alcohol divide the proof number by 2 and that will provide you with the ABV.

Talking point: Discuss the types of alcoholic beverages listed above. Lines on the

Solo brand of cups are coincidentally the measurement ounces of liquor, beer and

wine. Some may think that alcohol is a stimulant, but it is actually a depressant.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) and Binge Drinking The blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level is a measured concentration of alcohol in grams per deciliter (dl) of blood. Simply stated, BAC is the amount of alcohol in your blood stream. Your BAC level may vary from someone else’s based on your weight, gender, food consumption, time period over which the alcohol was consumed and more.

Individuals who consume 5 or more standard drinks for a male and 4 or more drinks for a woman in about a 2 hour period are considered binge drinkers (NIAAA, 2015). Binge drinking can cause serious health threats such as alcohol poisoning, liver disease, brain damage, sexually transmitted diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and injuries. Approximately 90% of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the U.S. is in the form of binge drinking (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).

Talking point: The legal BAC level for persons 21 and over is 0.08 and those who are under 21 should have a BAC of 0.00. If you are underage and drive with any amount of alcohol in your system, then you can be charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI). BAC is the Blood Alcohol Content level and refers to the amount of alcohol in your blood.

SIGNS OF ALCOHOL POISONING

Carson’s Story

Carson, an 18 year old Austin native, died December 8, 2008 at a fraternity party due to alcohol poisoning. Carson had just recently completed his first semester of college at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

At a fraternity hazing ritual at California Polytechnic State University, Carson was demanded to split a fifth of rum with another pledge, drink two 24‐oz Steel Reserve cans and a can of Sparks, while a bottle of Everclear was passed around.

Carson lost consciousness, showing multiple signs of intoxication and alcohol poisoning. His fraternity brothers failed to seek medical attention for him due to fear of getting in trouble with the law, since many of them were also underage.

Carson died that night with a BAC of .40‐‐ five times the legal limit for driving.

Talking point: Use the video “Carson’s Story” then explain the

signs of alcohol poisoning. Also, explain the 911 Lifeline Law.

911 Lifeline Law:

This law was implemented in 2011 due to the death of Carson. This law protects only the first minor to call for help. The caller must remain on the scene and must cooperate with the first responders.

Allow each defendant to share their personal story and how their behavior affected their lives and then allow time for questions from the audience.