It’s time to be a jerk again. Beginning April 1, the kind of clever statewide campaign to stop underage drinking, dubbed “Be a Jerk,” will reach out to the Maui community in hopes of changing the environment that contributes to alcohol abuse.
The campaign urges parents and adults to stop providing and/or allowing alcohol to be part of the underage community by encouraging adults to “be a jerk” when it comes to letting teens drink.
On April 1, Mayor Alan Arakawa proclaimed April as Alcohol Awareness Month. As part of the anti-drinking effort, Maui Community partners are scheduling a series of town meetings, Teen Expo events, family night dinners, youth dances, car washes, prevention eduction events, kids videos and much more.
The 2014 Be a Jerk schedule of events includes: I love me, Alcohol and Drug Free Prevention Education at Kihei Youth Center on April 5; Maui Youth & Family Services sign waving at Queen Kaahumanu Center on April 11; Central Maui Boys and Girls Clubs’ Family Night Dinner on April 15; Lahaina Boys and Girls Club’s Be a Jerk Youth Dance on April 25; and Teen Expo at Queen Kaahumanu Center on May 3.
Many additional events are scheduled. For more information or to sign a pledge to Be A Jerk, contact Yuki Lei Sugimura, Community Organizer, yuki@connecmaui.com or call 808-878-1888.
In addition, the Paia Youth & Cultural Center’s Malama Pono Project Venture Program will do a number of PSA’s during the months of April and May on radiOpio 88.9 LPFM addressing the prevention of underage drinking.
Be a Jerk community partners include Maui Youth and Family Services; Maui Economic Opportunity; Kihei Youth Center; Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center; Paia Youth and Cultural Center; Baldwin High School, Peer Education Program, Boys and Girls Club of Maui – Clubhouses located at Central, Lahaina, Haiku, Kahekili Housing, Makawao, Paukukalo.
Additional supporters include the County of Maui’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns, Department of Liquor Control, Department of Police, State of Hawaii Department of Education; Queen Ka’ahumanu Center; Red Door Portraits; Anheuser-Busch; HC&S; A&B Properties, Inc. and Maui Police Department.
Photo: scottfeldstein/Wikimedia Commons
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