The Chatham Community for Alcohol & Drug Free

Safe Homes Network

Teenage alcohol, tobacco and other drug use continue to be a problem among the youth of our county. While the schools, law enforcement, area merchants, clergy and other friends of youth work to help our young people grow up to be healthy and contributing adults, more must be done to stem the tide of drug use.

We as parents/caregivers have a vital role in this mission. Statistics from our own children tell us that we, their parents/caregivers, have a huge impact on whether they use alcohol or other drugs. The messages we send help them craft their own messages and influence their behavior more powerfully than the media they are exposed to or their peers.

2006 Chatham County Schools
Alcohol and Other Drug Survey

76% of students report that their parents/caregivers have helped them resist the use of alcohol and other drugs.
10% report that they take alcohol from their home without permission.
9% report that they use alcohol and other drugs at a party when parents are present.
9% report using alcohol and other drugs at home with family members.
Only 27% report that their parents/caregivers talk to them about the dangers of drug use sometimes or often.
Students who report that their parents/caregivers talk to them about the dangers of alcohol and other drug use are less likely to use marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, cocaine, hallucinogens, speed, prescription medicine and steroids.
Students who report that their parents/caregivers talk to them about the dangers of alcohol and other drug use are less likely to use drugs at a younger age.
Only 69% of students surveyed believe their parents/caregivers disapprove of drug use.
Only 67% of students surveyed believe their parents/caregivers disapprove of tobacco use.
Only 61% of students surveyed believe their parents/caregivers disapprove of alcohol use.

We invite you to join us as members of the Safe Homes Network of Chatham County. As a Safe Homes participant, you are pledging to create a healthy community one house at a time. Your signature on the pledge signifies that you will, to the best of your ability, provide a healthy atmosphere in your home. Your inclusion on the website invites other parents/caregivers to contact you and allows you to contact them with questions or concerns you may have about your son/daughter’s friends or social plans. Both send a clear message to your children and the youth of our community that yours is not a home where teenage alcohol, tobacco and other drug use is considered normal or permitted.

Please consider becoming a part of this community wide effort to keep our children healthy and safe.

The Law

According to North Carolina General Statute NCGS 18B-302(a), as a parent/guardian, you cannot legally give alcohol to any child, including your own, who is under the age of 21, even in your own residence, even with another parent’s permission, no matter what the circumstance.

NCGS 14-316.1: 18B-302(c) specifies that you can not knowingly allow an underage person consume or possess alcohol in your residence, even if you did not purchase the alcohol.

All weapons in your home must be secured according to the child access prevention/safe storage law, NCGS 14-315.1.

Join Us Today

The Safe Homes Network of Chatham County is a project whose goal is to protect our children from the harmful, often deadly, consequences of alcohol and other drug use. By becoming a member and taking the Safe Homes Network Pledge, you will join other parents who are actively trying to keep our youth safe. This pledge is not a legal document, but a commitment to your child and your community. By signing the pledge, you are agreeing to invite open communication with other members of the Safe Homes Network and to create a healthy community where underage drinking and other drug use is no longer expected or tolerated.

Safe Homes Network Pledge

Please download and print a .pdf copy of Safe Homes Pledge form here. Please sign and mail to: Safe Homes Network, c/o George Greger-Holt, P.O. Box 128, Pittsboro, NC 27312.

I will not knowingly allow underage youth (under 21) to consume or use alcohol or illegal drugs at my home, my property, or gatherings I am hosting at other locations.

I will provide reasonable adult supervision for parties of underage youth at my home or on my property.

When I am out of town, I will not knowingly allow my children to host parties at my home.

If I have weapons in my home, I will make every effort to have those weapons secured according to the law.

I invite and encourage contact from other parents whose children are gathering in my home, and I will feel free to contact members on the Safe Homes Network if my child(ren) are going to their home.

By my signature on the Safe Homes Network Pledge form, I acknowledge my desire to participate in the Safe Homes Network of Chatham County. I understand my name and other information I provide will be added to the Safe Homes of Chatham County directory for other parents to view online. I understand this is not a legal document, but a commitment to my child(ren) and my community.

Safe Homes Directory online (secure) (A login panel will be presented for secure access)

TOP

CCADFrY · P. O. Box 128 · Pittsboro, N. C. 27312 · susan_chnc@hotmail.com