Keep Your Friends and Family Safe During Super Bowl Sunday

As many of you might know, the National Football League’s Super Bowl takes place this Sunday. It is an American tradition with millions of individuals tuning in to watch it. Unfortunately, it is also a time when there is a rise of underage drinking and alcohol-related accidents at Super Bowl related events.

ADAPT would like to take a moment to give community members some tips to help prevent underage drinking and keep our children and communities safe while you enjoy the Super Bowl. Check out the tips and share it with your neighbors, friends, family members, etc.

Tips For Parents:

• Talk to your children about a Super Bowl commercial you see regarding drinking. Consider the environment around your child (at home or in the community) while having the discussion. Here are some guiding questions:
  • Did the commercial glamorize drinking?
  • How did the company sell their product?
  • Is alcohol readily available for your child?
  • Did this commercial discuss the harms of drinking such as drinking and driving or alcohol poisoning?

Tips for Individuals Hosting Parties:

Be sure that all of your guests have chosen a designated driver long before kick-off, or help to arrange ride sharing with all of the sober drivers at your house.

• Find great ways to reward all of the people who will be acting as designated drivers at your Super Bowl party. For instance, give them a prime spot to watch the big game or let them have the first pass at the delicious buffet table.
• Serve lots of food at your party and be sure that you have included plenty of non-alcoholic beverages to choose from.
• Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game, and instead begin serving coffee and dessert.
• Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy and take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving impaired.
• Be a good example for your child by being responsible during the party

Tips For School Faculty:

• Inform your students about the symptoms of alcohol poisoning
• http://awareawakealive.org/educate/911-lifeline-legislation
• Inform your students about the 911 Lifeline Legislation (Medical Amnesty).
  • From our partners at Montclair State University (http://www.montclair.edu/policies/student/student-conduct/medicalamnestypolicy/):
    • Vomiting, vomiting while passed out, not waking up after vomiting, or incoherent while vomiting.
    • Inability to rouse the person with loud shouting or vigorous shaking.
    • The inability of a person who was passed out to stay awake for more than 2-3 minutes.
    • Slow or irregular breathing or lapses in breathing.
    • Weak pulse, very rapid pulse, or very slow pulse.
    • Cold, clammy, or bluish skin.
• Make an assignment in class to watch some Super Bowl advertisements, specifically those that market alcohol, and ask students to write a reaction paper on how the media would target youth.
  • Have your students write and present a reaction paper on the Monday after the Super Bowl.
  • Go into a discussion about how media plays a role in alcohol use.
  • If students do not have access to a television, here is a link to a Super Bowl commercial to watch instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnOW5qj_R6A

Tips For Students:

• Get informed about Medical Amnesty in New Jersey. Medical Amnesty in New Jersey is otherwise known as the 911 Lifeline Legislation.

• To get informed: http://awareawakealive.org/educate/911-lifeline-legislation

If you see something, say something!

• How to know if your friend needs medical attention:
  • From our partners at Montclair State University (http://www.montclair.edu/policies/student/student-conduct/medicalamnestypolicy/):
    • Vomiting, vomiting while passed out, not waking up after vomiting, or incoherent while vomiting.
    • Inability to rouse the person with loud shouting or vigorous shaking.
    • The inability of a person who was passed out to stay awake for more than 2-3 minutes.
    • Slow or irregular breathing or lapses in breathing.
    • Weak pulse, very rapid pulse, or very slow pulse.
    • Cold, clammy, or bluish skin.