Adults Pledge to Students: I Will Not Drink

Teenagers are told not to drink by adults, yet they see adults drinking. Talk about a mixed message. The old adage, practice what you preach, carries a lot of weight for teenagers being pressured by peers to drink and looking to adults as their role models.

Now two clubs at Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) have implemented an innovative program challenging adults to be alcohol-free role models. Students sent adults a pledge form, asking them not to drink. The Pledge to be Alcohol Free has been signed by administrators, teachers, parents—even some local politicians and police chiefs.

Nearly 200 people from both Rumson and Fair Haven have signed the pledge. Those who sign the pledge agree not to drink for a two-week period ending on April 15. It’s all part of April’s Alcohol Awareness Month, and both borough councils in Rumson and Fair Haven passed resolutions to identify the month as such.

RFH’s Peer Leadership and Straight Edge programs spearheaded the pledge. Student Assistance Counselor Dr. Suzanne Fico, who is also this year’s Teacher of the Year, said she is hearing great feedback from parents and students about the program. “Parents think it’s a great idea. It has produced a lot of positive dialogue between them and their children,” she said.

Fico also said the program is providing a new consciousness of alcohol use and is pleased that both borough councils passed resolutions supporting the initiative. “I believe it is creating awareness and providing the students with chemically free, healthy role models,” Fico said. For all those who signed the pledge, it is showing them that they can “still have fun, and relax, without the use of alcohol,” said Fico.

Both mayors from Rumson and Fair Haven also signed the pledge. “It’s clear to anyone who is paying attention that there is an unacceptable level of underage drinking in Fair Haven and Rumson—it is common knowledge,” Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre said. He pointed out stories of wild parties, houses being trashed, and unacceptable behavior by underage drinkers, and said, “Some of the stories I’ve heard go beyond kids being kids.”

Some may want to deny it is happening, and “hide their heads in the sand,” but Halfacre said he hopes the resolution passed by the Fair Haven Borough Council and the pledge makes a difference. Two of his children attend RFH, he said, and his daughter is a member of one of the groups that spearheaded the initiative. Saying that he heard about the program early on, he and his wife both signed the pledge. “It’s a good example to set,” he said.

RFH’s Social Studies Teacher Christie Ferraris, who also pledged not to drink, said her daughter, Stephanie, appreciated her participation and gave her positive feedback. Stephanie is also a member of Peer Leadership.

“I’m an employee in the high school, where they are being pressured,” Christie Ferraris said, so being a role model for the students is an important one.  Stephanie Ferraris said that going without alcohol for two weeks will show parents how difficult it is for teens to resist the peer pressure from others to drink alcohol.

Another student from the program, Sophie Litwin, said, “We tune out messages from hypocrites, but the message is strong if it comes from people willing to make a sacrifice in order to give us a good example.”

Down from the hall from the Main Office of RFH, two bulletin boards display the names of all who signed the pledge, written in a star shaped cutout. As Fico points out, there has been a lot of interest from the students, as many have been stopping to see the names on the board. “They are impressed with the adults who are pledging,” she said.

Indeed, comments from the students show that the pledge is important to them. “There is nobody we look up to more than our parents. If they show us that they have the willpower to stop consuming alcohol, it shows us that we have the willpower also,” said Addison Nitto, RFH student.

Jack Wise, a Peer Leader member, summed it up by saying: “The powerful thing about signing this pledge is that our parents and other adults are always telling us not to drink, and yet they continue to drink. If they sign the pledge and are able to stop, they are giving us a good example and proving that it is possible.”

It seems that setting a good example is starting to catch on, as RFH’s initiative is gaining traction beyond the borders of Rumson and Fair Haven. Other towns are enacting similar initiatives: Ocean Township Mayor and its council passed a resolution supporting Alcohol Free Weeks, and Holmdel and Raritan high schools are now taking RFH’s lead in encouraging their communities to become involved in alcohol free programs.