Western Dubuque High School will host a town hall meeting on underage drinking later this month. Donna Silker of the Dubuque County Safe Youth Coalition says state and federal officials have been working on setting up a town hall meeting and asked her group to host. Silker says she was happy to hear that because over one year ago she’d gotten a call from the superintendent of the Western Dubuque school district who said the district was having a problem with youth alcohol consumption and wanted help. She says 278 kids under the age of 18 in Dubuque County were arrested and charged with an alcohol violation in 2005.
Silker says the meeting in Dubuque is one of many. She says there’s a series of national town hall meetings on or around March 28th and they’re looking to bring people in from youth, to parents to business owners and teachers. Silker says their goal is to share ways to deal with the youth drinking problem. She says they want to come up with some other choices and ideas to help the kids “make some positive decisions.”
Silker says the town hall meeting will be coupled with teach-ins. Silker says the teach-ins during the first week in April will talk to fifth and sixth graders. She says they have to start out somewhere. Silker says they also want to reach high school and college kids too. Silker says there are several town hall meetings scheduled across the state. To find a meeting in your area, surf to:www.stopalcoholabuse.gov.