About Us
Group Narrative & Early History

The Underage Drinking Task Force was formed and began meeting in December of 1999. This was started as a community effort to find out if there is indeed a problem with underage drinking in Gillette and Campbell County, and to find out what can be done to combat it. Using the SARA model, which is a problem solving method, the task force used the first meeting to scan/brainstorm and write down all of the evidence in and around Gillette that pointed to a problem with underage drinking. Before the end of the meeting, the group condensed the topics into five main categories.

Using those categories, committees were formed at the second meeting. Each person was asked to choose the category/committee on which he/she wanted to work. Each committee then chose a leader and began to work on the second step of the SARA model, which is analyzing the problem. The committees spent two meetings on the analysis stage and from that they defined solutions to be implemented. This gave the each committee direction in finding solutions concerning their individual topics.

As a result of working through these steps, we now have a community awareness committee which is putting together local, state and national statistics and facts about underage drinking. This group is also compiling a list of local intervention programs that are available in Gillette. The committee feels that if adults and teenagers are made more aware of the dangers and problems that are caused by minors consuming alcohol, the casual attitude toward the subject will change to a more serious attitude and perhaps stem the tide of so many kids becoming involved in drinking at any age.

The second committee is working on finding alternative activities for our young people. This committee has joined forces with other entities in Gillette who have the same goal. Together they are meeting frequently and working on practical solutions to finding interesting things in which our youth can be involved.

A third committee has met with the judges in Gillette who deal with kids who are cited for MIP, MIC, or DWI. The main purpose of these meetings was to establish a communication link with the judges to see how we can help each other achieve our respective goals.

A fourth committee is working on finding out the various ways kids get their supply of alcohol and finding ways to short circuit the supply lines.

During the initial meeting of the task force, the members were told that we would be focusing only on underage drinking. If we had not made the focus clear, we would have gotten bogged down with all of the problems facing our youth today. We have gotten this far in our efforts so quickly because we have remained focused on underage drinking.

An opinion poll conducted by FOX radio resulted in 78% of the respondents saying that yes, there is an underage drinking problem in Gillette. The American Drug and Alcohol Survey that was given to our 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders during the 1997-98 school year indicated that 73% of the 8th graders with high drug use say their friends would encourage them to get drunk. In comparison, among 8th grade students with low drug use, only 15% said that their friends would encourage them to get drunk. Other indications were that 42% of the 12th graders had used drugs or gotten drunk during the 30 days before they filled out the survey. According to the Rocky Mountain Behavioral Science Institute in Fort Collins, our 12th grade students were at moderate to high risk in their drug and alcohol use. We are currently awaiting the results of the most recent survey that was given the end of January. We should have those by the end of April and will publish the results.

On the state level we are told that according to state statistics compiled in 1998, driving while under the influence has become epidemic among our youth. Male juveniles were arrested for DWI at a rate of 57% higher than before, while 187% more female juveniles were arrested for the same thing. Public drunkenness for male juveniles was up by 78%, while public drunkenness for female juveniles was up over 283%! Wyoming children are the third highest in the nation to begin drinking under the age of thirteen. They currently rank the fourth highest in the nation in alcohol use/abuse. Wyoming children are also the fourth highest in the nation for drinking and driving. One out of ten Wyoming kids surveyed is drug or alcohol dependent.

These are just a few of the alarming statistics that should make people aware that there is definitely a problem with underage drinking. Of course knowing that there is a problem is one thing; doing something about it is another. The Underage Drinking Task Force is working to find viable solutions to this problem. Anyone who is interested in becoming involved in any aspect of the task force can contact the task force by clicking here. More people are needed to carry out the work that is yet to be done.