Compact 2020 videos aim to educate parents on drug use prevention

Published 4:49 pm Monday, August 14, 2017

BIRMINGHAM – Representatives with Shelby County’s Compact 2020 spent the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 11, filming informational one-minute videos aimed at educating parents about substance abuse prevention.

Compact 2020 Deputy Director Ashley Crumpton said the goal of the organization’s Prevention Minute videos is to provide resources for parents.

“Parents are having a hard time keeping up with what kids are doing,” Crumpton said. “We want to partner with parents to provide them with resources and some insight.”

Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force Cmdr. Clay Hammac, Danny Molloy with the Addiction Prevention Coalition, WIAT CBS42 news anchor Jim Dunaway and AL.com and SEC Network sports reporter Lauren Sisler gathered at Birmingham’s Vulcan Park to film the one-minute videos for Compact 2020.

Beginning at the end of August, Crumpton said the videos will be disseminated to the public once a month via social media and the county’s public school systems. The videos will be sent to local school systems and each district will send the videos out to parents.

“We realize that attention spans are short and that people want to receive information quickly, so if we can get people’s attention on social media for a quick second then we want to capitalize on that,” Hammac said. “We’re taking information from different resources and sharing insight with the community. We’re working to put an end to the opioid crisis.”

Hammac, Molloy, Dunaway and Sisler were each given a topic of discussion for their one-minute videos. Hammac talked about Tipsoft, an anonymous tip hotline, while Molloy tackled the affect that pop culture can have on drug use. Dunaway spoke about the importance of family in a child’s life and Sisler covered teen anxiety as well as the importance of parents locking up their prescription drugs.

Compact 2020 is a countywide effort designed to address the full spectrum of substance abuse and addiction challenges in Shelby County. It is made up of representatives from the cities of Alabaster, Pelham, Hoover and Chelsea, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelby County Commission and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.