By State Sen. Jim Merritt, author of Indiana’s Lifeline Law
It has been two months since Indiana’s Lifeline Law public awareness campaign was launched to inform students and parents about the Lifeline Law through the internet and radio.
Since then, college students have seen or heard more than two million advertisements online. With help from the Indiana Youth Services Association’s campaign, “Make Good Decisions,” we have been able to reach out to students at 11 Indiana colleges including Indiana University, Purdue University, Ball State University, Indiana State University, the University of Notre Dame and Butler University through their cell phones and social media accounts.
By targeting IP addresses and cell phone signals, students have received advertisements while on Facebook, YouTube and Pandora.
Indiana’s Lifeline Law provides legal protections to minors under the influence of alcohol who call to report a medical emergency or a crime, as well as any of the party-goers who stay with the person in need of medical attention until help arrives. When someone is facing an emergency, we don’t want fear of prosecution to stop those around them from doing the right thing.
For college students who are engaging in risky practices like popular drinking games or partying prior to sporting events, this is critically important. Today, about 40 percent of college students admit to binge drinking.
According to a study done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a college-age student dies from binge drinking every 44 hours.
As part of the campaign, one of the messages you might hear on the radio features Dawn Finbloom. Sadly, her son Brett died of alcohol poisoning at a party where everyone in attendance was underage. His friends were too scared to call for help.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Dawn and Norm Finbloom and I have spoken to more than 20,000 people around the state about the Lifeline Law. More than 100,000 Lifeline messages have been distributed and used in Indiana’s package liquor stores.
The campaign efforts have also drawn attention from the North-American Interfraternity Conference. I am thankful for the newfound partnership with Lambda Chi Alpha to insure that all 12 of its Indiana chapters, consisting of nearly 800 men, are educated on the Lifeline Law and have the information they need to be safe.
The advertisements through social media have been a unique, effective way to spread a very important message to young Hoosiers and they will continue throughout the school year. By working together, we can help publicize the Lifeline message – “Make the call; Save a life” – to students and parents across the state.