CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE
To support the US Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, and to support the Drug-Free Action Alliance’s Super Bowl Commercial Initiative at the state level.
GOALS
• To examine the favorite Super Bowl commercials of students in grades 5-8
• To educate students and parents about the effects of alcohol marketing on youth
• To provide teachers, students, and parents with strategies to interpret the messages of the media
RESEARCH USED TO SUPPORT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
The Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Medicine, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University have documented research that supports the influence of alcohol marketing on children and adolescents. Children begin to acquire alcohol expectancies at three to four years of age. In early childhood, alcohol expectancies tend to be negative. By fifth and sixth grade, these expectancies turn positive, focusing on the arousing and positive effects of alcohol use.
TARGET STUDENT POPULATION
Grades 5-8 in:
Sycamore Community Schools
o Greene Intermediate School (5-6)
o Sycamore Junior High School (7-8)
FACILITATORS OF THIS PROJECT
The NECC Youth Coalition tallies the Super Bowl Survey data after the survey is administered by the schools to the target student groups. Findings and a media literacy toolkit for students, parents, and teachers are emailed to the schools.