MVParents.com: Involved Parents Are the Real Heroes
In 1994 Bill Young was Executive Director of Communities from a Drug-Free Colorado, a state-wide substance abuse prevention program run out of the office of Colorado Governor Roy Romer. At that point, his view of alcohol producers was generally skeptical, and he took his watchdog role very seriously. Today, he takes this role as seriously as ever, but now and for the past 13 years he’s been fighting the causes of harmful drinking from within the Coors Brewing Company. Among the many Coors initiatives to promote responsible alcohol consumption, Bill is particularly proud of an initiative called MVParents.
Now Director of Corporate Responsibility at Coors, Bill helped create MVParents in partnership with the Search Institute, a leading nonprofit organization which studies and recommends strategies for raising healthy children and adolescents, and with PLAYERS INC, a subsidiary of the NFL Players Association which aims to “take the helmets off” players and present them as community and civic champions. Tackling underage drinking is a top priority not only for Bill, but also for Coors in general. “Our message to kids is ‘we’ll wait for your business,’” says Bill.
The MVParents initiative aims to help parents address underage drinking by nurturing strong, healthy kids and by being the “most valuable players” in their children’s lives. It builds on Search Institute’s widely-used, research-based framework of 40 Developmental AssetsTM, or positive experiences that form building blocks for healthy development. The Search Institute’s research has found that when young people experience a high level of the Developmental Assets, they are 15 times less likely to engage in problem alcohol use than those with few assets.
Aside from strong parental involvement, one of the assets is the inclusion of other caring, responsible adults in kids’ lives. With a recent college graduate and two kids still at home, Bill knows what it’s like for parents who face challenges while raising their children. "All parents need help and I'm no exception," confirmed Bill. "We can help each other by taking the time to teach someone else’s child a valuable skill or lesson."
Bill remembers well when he announced his decision to join Coors. “When I went from watchdog to industry insider, some of my former colleagues just simply refused to talk to me anymore,” remembers Bill. “I guess they couldn’t believe that I was really fighting for the same cause, within a beer brewing company.” Bill believed it, however. The fact that Coors was not only willing to bring someone with his background on board, but actively recruited him, was clear evidence that the company was serious about taking on harmful drinking. And his work over the years has countless community members believing as well.
MVParents messages have been seen by 100 million people through Monday Night Football, Sports Illustrated, college bowl games, online ads, and search engines, and MVParents.com has had some 400,000 unique visitors since its launch in June of 2005. But the real impact of the program can be heard in the voices of parents:
Quotes from Parents Who Use MVParents.com
“With the advice and resources I get from MVParents.com, I do not feel that I am without solutions. Thank you.”
“MVParents reminds me to stay connected to my kids and also my nieces and nephews and kids in the community.”
“This is a wonderful tool to use in parenting.”
“This has been a great resource for me… I so appreciate all that you do to keep it fresh and positive!”
“I love MVParents. I get great parenting tips and ideas that help me be a better mom.”
Source: Search Institute
For further information, please visit: www.MVParents.com. MVParents is one of many programs used by Molson Coors to promote the responsible consumption of alcohol. For further information on these programs, please visit our Alcohol Responsibility section.
