New Castle County Community Partnership, Inc.
New Castle County, Delaware

The New Castle County Community Partnership (NCCCP) conducts community education campaigns, provides afterschool programs for youth, and supports other activities developed by neighborhood coalitions in and around New Castle County. The Too Smart To Start team in New Castle County plans to raise awareness about the harms of underage alcohol use among 9- to 13-year-olds, their parents, and the larger community through a campaign of direct education and interactive activities.
With assistance from the faculty and staff of two local schools, Too Smart To Start will be incorporated into the schools’ health education programs. The schools will present the information through student assemblies and monthly classroom activities. In addition, students will learn about the media and their influence and will be creating media messages.

New Castle County’s team will communicate regularly with parents through a series of newsletters and information packets that include information about the harms of underage alcohol use and on the ways in which parents can reduce their children’s risk of using alcohol by talking with them. To promote parent-child interactions, the team will create a communication activity that children can only complete with their parents’ participation. A poster, commercial, or rap contest will be held based on input from 9- to 13-year-olds and their parents. Older students and community organizations will judge the entries, and the winners will be aired on the school TV station and in the local media. Finally, the team plans to distribute underage alcohol use prevention materials at other schools and host a community health fair to be planned with the input of the target audiences.