Partnership at Drugfree.org Releases New Prevention Ad Campaign for Hispanic Parents

the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids has launched a new prevention campaign in Hispanic communities, according to a press release published on PR Newswire Nov. 10.

The new series of 30-second radio and TV ads, aimed at Latino parents, is related to the Partnership's “Habla Con Tus Hijos” (“Talk with your Kids”) initiative. The ads, called “El Hijo del Vecino” (“The Neighbor's Kid”), show a broad range of people from the same neighborhood all blaming local drug problems on their neighbor's kid.  

The ads make their point with the line, “Asumir que es el problema de otros es el problema.” (“Assuming that it's somebody else's problem is the problem.”) They urge parents to talk to their children about alcohol and drugs and to use the HablaConTusHijos.org website to prepare themselves.

Research has indicated that youth who talk with their parents extensively about drugs and alcohol are around half as likely to begin using them. Furthermore, children aged 9-17 in approximately 7 million Hispanic families are at risk of substance abuse, according to data from the Partnership. 

“Talking to your kids about drugs isn't easy for any parent. The message of this campaign is that today it's imperative,” said Victor Zeiris, creative director of Adrenalina, which created the ads for the Partnership. “This campaign addresses the problem of denial that's prevalent in our communities. Two key themes of the creative work are to bring this issue to the forefront and to emphasize the importance of prevention.”

Latino/a parents are somewhat less likely to talk to their children about the dangers of using drugs and alcohol than either African Americans or White parents, according to the 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study conducted by Partnership at Drugfree.org.