Portsmouth High School to Hold Prom Party to Prevent Alcohol, Drug Use

About 25 people attended the third annual Parent Information Night held Tuesday at . This year's theme was "Teen Alcohol and Substance Abuse."

The event hosted a panel of Portsmouth town officials, as well as a discussion from Youth to Youth, a drug, alcohol and tobacco-free group that works with teenagers in all Aquidneck Island high schools.

Though the crowd was small with about 25 people in the audience, the message was enough to get the group excited. The main focus of the night revolved around the idea of fun without substance.

“The main goal is to make sure these students are having fun,” said Principal Robert Littlefield. “I became a much better principal after my second son graduated high school.”

Littlefield went on to talk about how his son was left with nothing to do after his senior prom because the only party was at a state campground, where there was underage drinking and no supervision.

“It really was a tragedy because he had nowhere to go,” said Littlefield. “The environmental police ended up breaking up this prom after-party and students were arrested, but all of this could have been avoided if they had a place to go that was a good time but still supervised.”

The goal this upcoming year is to put as much effort into a post-prom party where all Portsmouth High School students can go after the dance.

“I’ve told the post prom committee, ‘you guys get whatever you want,’” said Littlefield. “I will support them anyway I can because it is such a great effort and it underscores that keeping kids safe can be accomplished; one, by making sure they’re supervised and two, giving them something to do that’s fun.”

Youth to Youth, which is based in Newport, brought some of its members to shed some light on that very idea.

“I’ve been involved in Youth to Youth since I was 15,” said Ryan O’Sullivan, who attended Rogers High School as a teenager and now helps to run the program. “It is an organization that is not too normal and the goal is that we are run by youth for youth, and we use the idea that peer pressure exists no matter what and you can’t change that, so you have to make it a positive peer pressure.”

The group averages around 30 to 40 kids and meets every Monday, which is unheard of for a group that isn’t funded by school or grants.

Though the crowd was enthusiastic and the message invaluable, it was still undeniable that the turnout had withered from years before.

“Out first year putting this on, we had about 100 people and, the second year, about 40,” said Chief Lance Hebert of Portsmouth police. “People aren’t thinking about it as much as they should be and the parents that aren’t here are the ones that we have to worry about.”

The audience’s homework was to share the information with fellow parents and discuss the affects of alcohol with their children without lecturing.