In yesterdays editions of both News From the Front
(http://thenetworkws.blogspot.com/) and the HEC News
(http://www.edc.org/hec/news/hecnews/1460.html) there were stories about
the practice of doing the "power hour" at 12 AM the "morning" of a
student's 21st birthday. Although I invite comments on this practice in
general in hopes that we can discuss it from the perspective of proactive
interventions that might be taken, I am particularly curious about the
opinions of list readers regarding the efforts that some States are taking
to curb/deter this practice by passing laws that define one's 21st
birthday occurring "after" the bars have closed.
As you may be aware, a number of States - Minnesota's efforts being cited
in the News From the Front article - have attempted to redress this
high-risk drinking practice by passing legislation that established one's
official birthday as happening "after" the bars have closed. For example,
if the bars close at 2 AM in a particular State, the legislation defines
one's birthday as happening at some time after 2, e.g., 3 AM.
I am curious what readers think about these laws. Do they have the
potential to reduce the likelihood that students will attempt to do 21
shots upon turning 21 at midnight or will they just postpone the ritual
until the next evening? And if students are likely to do the "power hour"
irrespective of legislative efforts to prevent such, are there proactive
steps that AOD prevention specialists and health educators might consider
to address this dangerous drinking practice?
I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Best regards,
Robert
Robert J. Chapman, PhD
Coordinator, AOD Program
Associate Faculty, Clinical/Counseling Psychology
La Salle University
1900 W. Olney Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19141-1199
Phone: 215-951-1357 Fax: 215-951-1451
mailto:chapman@lasalle.edu
home page http://www.robertchapman.net
Visit The Network newsletter, "News From the Front" -
http://thenetworkws.blogspot.com/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 03/15/05 EST