Knoxville, TN
The Metropolitan Drug Commission
The Metropolitan Drug Commission (MDC), which is dedicated to the prevention of
substance abuse in Knoxville, TN, coordinates and collaborates with numerous organizations
and agencies to improve the effectiveness of their comprehensive community strategy
to reduce youth substance abuse. The Too Smart To Start team in Knoxville implements
a variety of activities and events as well as a mass media campaign to reach out
to 9- to 13-year-olds, their parents, and the community.
The team delivers programs to youth in elementary and middle school classrooms to
increase their knowledge of the harms of underage alcohol use. Trainings for middle
school teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators also are offered during
in-service days as a way to increase their awareness of the harms of underage alcohol
use and the importance of their involvement in encouraging parent/child communication
at home. To increase interaction between 9- to 13-year-olds and their parents, the
team encourages parents and youth to participate in a number of fun and educational
take-home activities that are returned to the teachers as homework assignments,
with a parent’s signature to ensure parental involvement. In addition, the team
invites a small number of at-risk youth to participate in an annual summer camp,
where they learn about the harms of underage alcohol use through a combination of
arts instruction with prevention programming, using MDC’s underage drinking drama
Menace. Youth and their parents also are encouraged to participate in the take-home
activities, supporting what they learn during the day at camp.
Through a mass media campaign, 9- to 13-year-olds, their parents, and the Knoxville
community are exposed to messages about the harms of underage alcohol use, the
importance of conversations between parents and their children, and ways to increase
public disapproval of underage drinking. Public service announcements, newspaper
articles, newsletters, magazines, and billboards are used to accomplish this goal.
Additionally, through a partnership with MDC’s NBC affiliate, WBIR, monthly news
stories are aired on underage drinking and biannual phone polls are conducted to
measure the effectiveness of the overall social marketing campaign. The team also
disseminates messages and materials about Too Smart To Start and the harms of underage
alcohol use to the faith community for faith leaders to use and distribute to their
congregations and to house in their resource libraries. An educational component
that addresses the perceptions of underage drinking and the importance of conversations
also is offered as a program that could be delivered during Bible studies or parenting
classes.
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