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Pendleton teens produce radio ads
Public service announcements tell parents to protect children from underage drinking

By Matt Thompson of the East Oregonian
Sunday, April 29, 2007

Parents often lecture their teenagers about what to do, but it isn't often teenagers get to do some lecturing of their own.

Three Pendleton High School students - Faun Haugsted, Aleah Whitbread and Nicole Hoolehan - got that chance when they wrote two public service announcements on underage drinking. Many ads such as these target teens, but these are aimed at parents.

We're targeting parents to tell them to watch their children, said Whitbread, a senior at PHS. They need to make sure to keep a close eye on what they're doing so they know where they are and whether they're drinking or not - because that's part of the problem.

Oregon's underage drinking is higher than the national average - especially among eighth-graders, according to a recent survey by the Oregon Department of Health. Thirty percent of eighth-graders said they had drank alcohol in the past month, well above the national average of 17 percent. In Umatilla County, 32.8 percent of eighth-graders reported drinking.

Drinking is probably our biggest problem, Whitbread said.

The three girls are members of Teens Against Alcohol and Drugs (TAAD), a student club at PHS. They're also a part of a statewide campaign to raise awareness among parents and other adults about Oregon's high rate of underage drinking. Oregon Partnership, a nonprofit company, the Umatilla County Health Department and Capps Broadcasting Company teamed up to produce two PSAs that will run on KWHT, KUMA and KCMB in La Grande during May and June.

The trio performed one of the ads, but also received help from three grade-school students, Brandon Bartley, Abigail Whitbread and Michael Haugsted.

Pamela Erickson, deputy director of Oregon Partnership, said most parents aren't aware of the prevalence of underage drinking, especially among young children.

We've seen kids addicted as young as 16 years old, Erickson said. It's shocking sometimes. You look at the data and you think, 'That's got to be wrong.'

The state's recent survey found that 34 percent of eighth-grade girls had drank alcohol in the past month compared to almost 30 percent of eighth-grade boys. Hoolehan, a senior, said underage drinking is a significant problem at PHS.

A lot of people do it that you wouldn't expect, she said.

All three girls have had close friends or relatives suffer from alcohol. They said being active in TAAD and creating the radio ads simply was a way to help.

I'm really glad we did this, Whitbread said. It was a lot of fun.

The girls agreed educating teens and parents, making it clear that drinking isn't acceptable, are the keys to improving the current situation.

(Parents) just don't expect them to be doing anything when really anyone can get anything, anywhere, Hoolehan said. It's totally open.

Erickson said a focus group did studies in Madras and Beaverton and found few parents had made explicit rules about drinking alcohol. Often, they just assumed their child knew about the dangers to stay away.

(Talking with them) will reduce your child's chances of getting involved in alcohol, she said. Again and again, we have evidence that parents have influence over their child even into their teenage years.