Fact: Under-age drinking is a serious issue. Another Fact: Trying to get that message across to teenage high school students isn’t easy but the El Paso Police Department is hoping that one of El Paso’s biggest social media influencers, FitFam El Paso, can help them spread the message to their thousands of followers.

Back in 2000, The El Paso Police Department along with The Central Citizens Advisory Board and BorderRac created the Under-Age Drinking Initiative Contest in response to a tragic accident that took the lives of five El Paso teens back in February of 2000.

“What started in Central El Paso has now grown to include high schools in El Paso County and Southern New Mexico,” said EPPD officials. 

This year EPPD is using social media to get teens excited about this year’s contest and they are hoping that by teaming up with FitFam El Paso, they can reach a larger number of high school students.

Earlier this month, EPPD made a call to high school students to create Instagram reels showing how to have fun in the borderland without drinking.

“Tell me you don’t have to drink to have fun in El Paso without telling me you don’t have to drink to have fun in El Paso,” read a video caption shared on the contest Instagram page, @eppd.uadi.

The original deadline for teens to submit their reels was April 8th but the deadline has been extended to today, Thursday, April 14th.

High School students can submit their Instagram reels through the google form provided at the link in the EPPD UADI’s bio or by sending in their videos to FitFam El Paso through Instagram direct messaging.

The top nine most “Liked” videos and the El Paso Police Department’s favorite video on EPPD’s Instagram page will win 1 of 10 awards which are sponsored by BorderRAC.

Prizes include an iPad, Nintendo Switch Lite, Air Pods, and gift cards that range from $50 to $75.

Teens are encouraged to get creative when making these videos not only for the “Likes” but to help get the attention of their peers and to hopefully put an end to underage drinking in our community. 

“This contest gives our teenagers a platform to influence each other positively through their own prevention campaign,” said EPPD officials.

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