a youth-led "meeti ng of the minds" on the

issue of underage

drinking and driving

This presentation is a template – make it your own and customize it to fit your needs.

Add your own information that relates to your local community and the audience at your Reality Check.

You may want to add information provided by your panelists, local law enforcement, or other sources.

MAKE IT YOUR OWN!

Welcome to the [name of community] Reality Check!

[Include logos of the program, NOYS, and the local organization]

[Include date and time]

WELCOME!

A ‘Reality Check’ is a youth-led meeting to: get together , face reality , ask the hard questions , talk openly

about the problems of underage drinking and driving , learn from each other , commit to making a change , and then help others make changes , too.

The entire focus of a Reality Check is ‘to: Educate parents and teens about the dangers of underage drinking and driving — what is really happening in OUR community — so we can work together to stop it. Time to get a true Reality Check!

WHAT IS A REALITY CHECK?

To gather the community around the issue of underage drinking and driving.

To spread awareness of the problem in our community.

To work together to come up with community-wide solutions.

THE GOALS

Tonight’s [or this afternoon’s or this morning’s] Reality Check is brought to you by several organizations.

National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) developed the program through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) .

[Insert information about your organization.]

THE PARTNERSHIP

Too many teens and their parents are unaware of the dangers of underage drinking and driving.

Teens know it’s illegal, but that may not be enough to change their behavior.

It’s going to take the community of [insert community] to join together to give everyone a Reality Check.

THE ISSUE

Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among teens in the United States, more so than tobacco and other drugs.

Alcohol use contributes to more than 4,700 teen deaths every year.

Even though drinking under the age of 21 is illegal, people aged 12 to 20 drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost 80% of high school students have tried alcohol.

THE STATS

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that during the 30 days prior to the poll, 39% of high school students drank some amount of alcohol, 8% drove after drinking, and 24% rode with a driver who had been drinking. Sources: www.kidshealth.org and

htt p://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm

[Insert any local statistics that may be available.]

STATS CONTINUED

Introduction of teen moderator

Introductions of guest panelists

Each panelist will begin with a short opening statement .

The moderator will then ask questions, with the panel responding based on their area(s) of expertise.

The audience will also have the opportunity to ask questions.

Each panelist will have the opportunity to share a closing statement .

Next steps as a community

AGENDA

[Include information about the teen moderator and the guest panelists.]

PANELISTS