Mocktail Happy Hour

Items Provided or Needed

• 911 Lifeline/Good Samaritan Law flyers
• Mocktail Coasters

Extras:

• Mocktail drink ingredients
• Cups
• BAC calculator (see resources below)

How to Prepare

1. Design your mocktail drink menu
2. Ensure educators have talking points
3. Put up safety messaging or flyers at the event

How to Facilitate

1. While the students are ordering the mocktails, explain the following:
   1. Alcohol Content: Higher alcohol content in drinks leads to higher Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
   2. Drinking Rate: Rapid consumption of alcohol results in faster intoxication as the body absorbs it all at once
   3. Time Spent Drinking: Pacing yourself to about one drink per hour can help keep BAC relatively low
   4. Common Alcohol Myths: Drinking coffee or water does not sober you up; only time can reduce BAC
   5. High Tolerance: Having a high tolerance does not make it safe to drive; BAC remains the same regardless of tolerance
   6. Factors affecting alcohol absorption:
      • Food: Eating high-protein foods like meats and nuts can slow down alcohol absorption by coating the stomach lining
      • Gender: Women have less alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, making them more susceptible to intoxication
2.  Help students talk about what they know and their behavior with these questions:
   1. What are some myths you’ve heard about binge drinking?
   2. What are the dangers of mixing different types of alcoholic beverages?
   3. What are some ways you ensure you get home safely?
   4. Discuss responsible party options with your peers. (Usually, drinks at parties have less structure, resulting in more alcohol in drinks.)
   5. Discuss ways to help ensure your peers do not over-drink.
   6. Discuss how to help avoid peer pressure when you are a designated driver.
   7. Remind your peers to make a plan before a night of drinking.

Tips and Lessons Learned

• Invite other student organizations on campus to promote the event or co-host it with you.
• Have other impairment activities at your event, like renting the UDS impaired goggles and bean bag toss resource, using our resource reservation form

Reporting Requirements

You may submit an activity form if you’d like to tell us what you’re up to so we can post pictures on social media.

If you do report the activity, please include:

• A summary of the event
• Number of volunteers supporting the activity
• A sign-in sheet of volunteer names with date, start time, and end time (TX schools only)
• A sign-in sheet of volunteer names from planning meetings (TX schools only)
• Photo(s) conducting the activity