“Each year that goes by, this event ratchets up a little bit,” he said, noting this is the second year the Butler County Chiefs of Police Association has taken part in the event designed to let the students take a lead role in coming up with ways to disseminate anti-drinking and drug information.
“These students have the ability to have an impact on their peers and the decisions they make on prom and graduation night,” said Chrissy Hutzelman, Hamilton City Schools’ chemical abuse specialist. She brought 17 selected juniors and seniors to the summit.
“They’re all very enthusiastic about making a difference among their friends because they don’t want to have to deal with tragedies later,” Hutzelman said.
In the morning session, she asked the participants to mingle with those from other schools, telling each other about their 10 best friends. When she asked them to pick two that might be expendable, conversations were replaced by gasps and nervous laughter, and Hutzelman said she knew her point had been made.
In small group sessions, students met with the police chief in their area to brainstorm ideas on how to get the word out about the dangers of drinking on prom night. They then shared those ideas at a news conference for student newspaper reporters.
Many planned on inviting guest speakers to prom week assemblies, having younger students and siblings write reminder notes to post on lockers before prom and on windshields at prom sites.
They also talked of staging mock crashes and mock arrests and raffles for prom tickets and dresses for students who sign a prom promise pledge.
Hamilton’s contingent decided to focus this year on parents who host prom parties and provide — or even just allow — alcohol.
One of the police chiefs’ messages to the students was that they want to be resources and partners in the anti-alcohol efforts.
“We’re not out to make a bunch of DUI arrests or write a lot of tickets,” Hamilton police Chief Neil Ferdelman said. “What we’re concerned about is making sure people are safe.”
Middletown police Chief Greg Schwarber said, “The message shouldn’t be don’t drink and drive, but don’t drink, period.”
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