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Introduction

What You Can Do

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KYLS

Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free

Family Day

PDF Downloads:

Fast Facts on Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) - NEW!

Fast Facts on Underage Drinking in Kansas - New!

How Does Alcohol Affect the World of a Child? booklet


De qué Manera Afecta el Alcohol el Mundo de un Niño?


Surgeon General's Call to Action March '07


Drugs, Brains, and Behavior
The Science of Addiction

Alcohol Alert on Underage Drinking from NIAAA

Keeping Kids Alcohol Free-Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free

Mantengamos A Los Niños Libres De Alcohol: Estrategias Para Entrar En Accion


Hosting Underage Drinking Parties:  Criminal Liabilties

Science, Kids and Alcohol:  Research Briefs - NEW!

USA Today article
Laws crash underage drinking parties


Dad Defends Teen Drinking Party - 60 Minutes segment

Stay Smart, Don't Start!

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Get Involved -

Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free

 

The Kansas Leadership Committee to Keep Children Alcohol Free is working to educate and change the public's perception of underage drinking. With information distribution through movie slide advertising, public service announcements and working with partners across the state, Kansans will see that underage drinking is not a "Rite Of Passage".

Mission

To reduce the use of alcohol by youth in Kansas.

Goals

  • To educate the public about the incidence and impact of early alcohol use by Kansas youth;

  • To energize the public to address this issue within their families, schools and communities in a sustained way and to work for change;

  • To focus the attention of State policy makers and opinion leaders on the seriousness of the problem of alcohol use by young children; and

  • To make the reduction of alcohol use by children a state priority.


KS Leadership Committee


The Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free Committee is comprised of members of state agencies, community coalitions, businesses, state associations, law enforcement, and community volunteers.  Members represent the fields of health care, law enforcement, substance abuse prevention, education, transportation/traffic safety, and media.  Kansas Family Partnership, Inc. oversees the Committee and Michelle Voth and Keri Renner serve as co-chairs and may be contacted at (800) 206-7231.

"Not In Our House" campaign


In 2007, the Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free unveiled a new campaign called "Not In Our House," aimed at educating parents, the public and key leaders about reducing access to alcohol by Kansas youth in our homes and our communities.  Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free tied their campaign to materials that The International Institute for Alcohol Awareness, Scholastic and The Century Council had published in 2006.  This presented an even greater partnership to distribute awareness materials regarding social hosting and underage drinking.      

You may have heard the term, "social hosting," but were unsure of it's meaning.  Social hosting or unlawfully hosting is generally defined as providing and/or serving alcohol to a young person who is under the minimum legal drinking age.  It can take place in a party-like atmosphere or by any adult simply providing alcohol to young people and their peers for them to drink.  It can even extend to parents and homeowners who are not on the premises and/or did not provide the alcohol.

  • Social host liability refers to laws that hold non-commercial individuals responsible for underage drinking events on property that they own, lease or otherwise control.
  • You may not need to actually serve or provide alcohol to underage guests to violate these laws.
  • The penalties for breaking this law include possible jail time, and the potential for criminal or civil lawsuits, as well as public humiliation for breaking the law.
  • By violating the law, you are sending every child you know a message that can have risky consequences.


History of the Kansas Social Host Law  - (Social Hosting)

Kansas passed a social host law in 2004, a.k.a. Paul’s Law, named for Paul Riggs, a Lenexa teen who was killed while driving home from a friend’s party, where he and other teenagers had been drinking.  The friend’s parents were home during the party while the teens drank alcohol.  After Paul’s death, his mother, Debbie Riggs, attempted to have a social host law passed in the Kansas legislature to protect the youth of the state.

 

The social host law established a new crime of “unlawfully hosting” where persons under the age of *18 consume alcoholic beverages or cereal malt beverages.  Unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcoholic liquor or cereal malt beverage is now a Class A person misdemeanor, for which there is a minimum fine of $1,000. 

During the 2007 Legislative session, the law was changed to define a minor as "under the age of 21" instead of *18.  A minor in Kansas is defined as under the age of 21.

NEW!  During the 2009 Legislative session, a bill was passed to add the words "or recklessly" to the phrasing 'Unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcoholic liquor or cereal malt beverage is intentionally or recklessly permitting a person's residence or any land, building, structure or room owned, occupied or procured by such person to be used by an invitee of such person or an invitee of such person's child or ward, in a manner that results in the possession or consumption therein of alcoholic liquor or cereal malt beverages by a minor.'

Access K.S.A. 21-3610c here

Downloadable Resources


We appreciate your interest in our downloadable items.  The following materials were created by Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free.  When using or distributing these resources, please give credit to Kansas Leadership or Kansas Family Partnership.  Thank you!

Social Hosting Promotional Piece (All pdf copies-see below)

For more information, regarding social hosting awareness or the "Not In Our House" campaign, please contact Keri Renner at (800) 206-7231.

Partners of the "Not In Our House" Campaign

Public Service Announcements

     

The Kansas Leadership Committee to Keep Children Alcohol Free, with the help of the Kansas Highway Patrol and Judge Gary Sebelius, produced a public service announcement (PSA) directed towards parents.

Parents and others who are interested are encouraged to contact Kansas Family Partnership and request a copy of the "Make A Difference" booklet.  Copies of the PSA have been distributed to television media outlets and have aired on several stations throughout Kansas. 

Click the play button on the video at the right or if you prefer, you can access the television PSA in these formats:

 

In 2007, as part of the "Not In Our House" campaign, Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Judge Gary Sebelius produced radio public service announcements about social hosting and adults providing alcohol or beer to youth.  These PSAs will be distributed and played on radio stations throughout Kansas. 

  :60 PSA <-- click to play
  :30 PSA <-- click to play

For more information, please contact Keri Renner, Director of Communications & Statewide Networker at (800) 206-7231 or via e-mail at krenner@kansasfamily.com.

Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free

 

 Click to Select Your State Information  
 



Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, a unique coalition of Governors' spouses, Federal agencies, and public and private organizations, is an initiative to prevent the use of alcohol by children ages 9 to 15. It is the only national effort that focuses on alcohol use in this age group. The initiative was founded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and has been joined by additional Federal sponsors.

 

 

 
 

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Law pins underage drinking on adults
Kansas Social Host law strengthened for enforcement

NEW CASA REPORT FINDS FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SPEND ALMOST HALF A TRILLION A YEAR
OF EVERY FEDERAL AND STATE DOLLAR SPENT,ONLY 2 CENTS GOES TO PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

'White matter' impairment could mean a 10% decline in information recall, scientists say
Bouts of heavy drinking could affect thinking and memory

Military Launches Web sites to Combat Drinking Problems
Survey shows active-duty personnel more likely to drink heavily than counterparts

Teens sharing risky behavior on social networking sites
Relating of substance abuse, sexual or violent behavior often posted online

Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex--What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling
New book by SADD Chairman and CEO

A Parent's Guide to the Teen Brain
Science-based resource for parents

Spanish Social Hosting Brochure Now Available
Helpful information for parents and others

Marijuana and Youth
The following information is excerpted from the resources compiled as part of Drugstory's Special Feature "Marijuana & Youth"

 
  Kansas Family Partnership • 5942 SW 29th St, Topeka, KS 66614 • (800) 206-7231 • (785) 266-6161 • (785) 266-6149 fax
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