This set of Frequency Asked Questions addresses questions you may have about the social norms marketing campaign at Wellesley High School.

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Questions:

Question: What is the SNAPPY Project at Wellesley High School?
Answer: The SNAPPY Project is designed to address high-risk alcohol use and related problems among high school students through a "social norms marketing" campaign. More information about the thinking behind social norms marketing approaches can be found at the Higher Education Center's Social Norms and Social Marketing webpage.

Question: What is included in the WHS "social norms marketing" campaign?
Answer: Beginning in March 2003, students will begin to see a "social norms marketing campaign" around the high school; that is, posters, fliers and other materials that disseminate information about the actual alcohol use and related attitudes of WHS students. In addition, ads will appear in the town and school newspapers.

Question: Where is SNAPPY getting the information used in the campaign?
Answer: Almost all WHS students took an anonymous survey in the Fall of 2002 in which they answered a number of questions about their own drinking behavior and attitudes related to alcohol use, as well as their perceptions of their peers’ behavior and attitudes.

Question: What were the results of the WHS survey?
Answer: Consistent with other student surveys, the results confirm that Wellesley High School students overestimate the amount and frequency of alcohol use by their peers, as well as attitudes supportive of drinking behavior. Conversely, they frequently underestimate the number of their peers who make good decisions and the support that exists for those decisions.

Question:  How will you choose the campaign messages?
Answer: Each message will state a positive fact about a majority of students, and most will directly counter a misperception we identified through the survey – that is, where students overestimate unhealthy behaviors or underestimate healthy behaviors among their peers. Throughout the spring term, we will continue to release additional statistics from the student survey. The campaign will include messages about both lower-than-perceived drinking behaviors and attitudes supportive of healthy choices.

Question: Doesn’t informing students about their peers’ alcohol use and attitudes condone drinking?
Answer: One common concern is whether providing information about the extent of student drinking will actually encourage nondrinkers or light drinkers to experiment more to "keep up with their peers." Results from other campaigns suggest that this does not occur. That fact is, nondrinkers have the same inflated perceptions about their peers’ behaviors as other students. Rather than encouraging them to drink more, providing information about the true norms (not everyone is doing it) is thought to provide support for the existing healthy behaviors of nondrinkers and light drinkers.

Question: Don't students lie on these surveys?
Answer: The accuracy of self-report surveys has been studied extensively. Survey data have been found to be reliable and valid when respondents are assured that their responses will be confidential. The survey administered to WHS students was completely anonymous, so no responses are traceable to a specific student. In addition, EDC staff handles all of the data, so no school or community member will ever have access to individual student responses.

Question: Is this project sponsored by WHS?
Answer: WHS sponsors the project in the sense that the administration and teachers have given this project their full support and have been active participants in every aspect of program design and implementation. WHS representatives are part of a project advisory board that also includes representatives from the Health Department, police, youth workers, parents, and students. WHS does not provide financial sponsorship; funding for SNAPPY comes from external grant sources.

Question: What role does the community play in this campaign?
Answer: We all share the same goals: to help students make healthy choices.

• Everyone can use the campaign information to counteract the students' and community members’ perceptions that "everyone is drinking."

• Parents can use the opportunity to reiterate their values and expectations regarding drinking, and remind students that they are responsible for their own behavior.

• The police will continue to enforce underage drinking laws and counteract statements by students, parents, and community members that imply that most WHS students are making bad choices.

• Teachers can use the SNAPPY results to engage students in factual discussions and critical analysis of their perceptions about others’ behaviors.

Do you have other questions?

We’d like to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us at (617) 969-7100 ext. 2157 or SNAPPY@edc.org.