Shoulder Taps Reveal Few Adults Willing to Purchase Alcohol for Minors in Foxborough

Foxborough High School students working with the S.A.F.E. (Substance Abuse Free Environment) Foxborough Coalition are revealing results from a “shoulder tap” survey conducted Friday night in cooperation with the Foxborough Police Department and 8 Liquor stores in Foxborough.

On June 3, Foxborough High School student volunteers, working with the S.A.F.E. (Substance Abuse Free Environment) Foxborough Coalition and the Foxborough police, operated in teams outside 8 liquor stores. In an effort to raise awareness around underage drinking, the teens approached adults to ask them to purchase alcohol for them.  Adults who refused to buy received a thank you card and information from the students.  Adults, who expressed willingness to buy, received information about legal consequences from undercover Foxborough police officers working with the students.  

The students approached 50 adults outside Foxborough liquor stores. Of those, only two expressed willingness to purchase alcohol for the teens, resulting in 96% of people approached saying no to underage students.

“Shoulder tap surveys are a meaningful way to engage youth in helping coalitions measure a community’s awareness of underage drinking laws, and the likelihood of youth being able to procure alcohol from adults in their communities,” said Foxborough Police Chief Ed O’Leary.

Unlike some shoulder tap initiatives, which allow the illegal alcohol buy to occur and that result in the arrest of the adult involved, this S.A.F.E.-Foxborough Police Department effort sought only to raise public awareness.  

“As this is a new initiative for the S.A.F.E. coalition, the surveys were completed as an educational strategy and no actual purchase of alcohol took place,” according to Rev. Andy Geffers, S.A.F.E. coalition member and coordinator of the shoulder tap project. “The S.A.F.E. Foxborough coalition wanted to assess how much of a problem we have with adults buying for youth and to discourage it by educating adults about the negative impact on youth in our community and the legal consequences."

“Of course we are pleased with the community’s response to our first shoulder tap survey,” said Janet Fisher S.A.F.E. Foxborough coordinator.  

S.A.F.E Foxborough concluded from the results that young people who are drinking are getting alcohol from other sources, like older friends or their family’s supply. Learning about how underage drinkers are able to access alcohol helps the coalition with prevention strategies.  Also, partnerships between the police, the coalition and teens build relationships and open up communication that is key to effective coalition work.  

The S.A.F.E. Coalition looks for community-based solutions such as conducting shoulder tap surveys and changing laws and policies that affect people’s behavior to further the mission of reducing youth substance use.

The S.A.F.E., Substance Abuse Free Environment, Foxborough Coalition was created in November 2009. The aim of S.A.F.E. is to bring the community together to develop strategies for the prevention of underage drinking and substance abuse to enhance the well-being of our youth. The coalition consists of concerned community members including representatives from businesses, the YMCA, parents, young people, media, law enforcement, schools, faith organizations, health providers, treatment professionals, social service agencies, and representatives from state and local government.  To find out more about S.A.F.E. Foxborough coalition visit www.SafeFoxborough.org.

Visit the S.A.F.E. booth at Founder’s Day to see the demonstration of “Fatal Vision Goggles.”  The goggles allow people to experience with a sober mind what it’s like to be under the influence of alcohol.  Participants will experience how alcohol impairs balance, vision, reaction time, and judgment.