Blackman is chief executive officer of the Century Council, an Arlington-based distiller-run group that fights drunken driving and underage drinking. The council recently held a showcase of student anti-binge-drinking campaigns. What initiatives has the Century Council done to curb binge-drinking among college students?
For students, our CD-ROM (now online) called Alcohol 101 and 101Plus was one of the first educational tools to incorporate technology and real-life scenarios; millions of our “Parents, You’re Not Done Yet” brochures have been distributed by colleges to parents … and the Promising Practices initiative led the way in helping identify opportunities for faculty and administrators to focus on the issue of alcohol abuse on campus.
You recently had a showcase of student-designed programs about discouraging binge drinking. How did that come about, and what impact do you hope it has?
In 2009, The Century Council sponsored a national competition in which college communications students could submit an integrated communications campaign designed to fight binge drinking on campus. … Since the competition the Century Council has begun underwriting the execution of the campaigns on campus in order to create a platform for students to talk to each other about this issue in their own unique way. The council’s Capitol Hill event last week was designed to showcase a few of these campaigns and other initiatives for policymakers here in Washington.
What messages did those student campaigns emphasize?
The student campaigns emphasize the importance of understanding the consequences of their drinking decisions through increased self-awareness, the opportunities that others have to moderate a friend’s consumption and look for signs along the way to learn when a “good” night has the potential to go “bad.” That said, the tone of the messages is just as important to a student reassessing their drinking decisions.The messaging must be delivered with respect, sincerity and encouragement — often through the voice of a peer or trusted friend.
— Emily Babay
