High school administrators and coaches routinely dispense cautions regarding alcohol to students.

On a trio of billboards installed this week around town, however, the message is meant for parents.

It is spelled out this way: “NOT IN OUR HOUSE. Join Us! DON’T provide ALCOHOL to TEENS.”

The billboard on South Walnut Street, which southbound drivers can see just before reaching Big Red Liquors, features a group photo of Bloomington South principal Mark Fletcher and his assistant principals. Bloomington North head coaches grace the billboard facing west on 17th Street at the Tom Cat’s Pawn parking lot. Edgewood principal Dirk Ackerman and staffers gaze east from the billboard on westbound Ind. 46 in Ellettsville, opposite the fire station.

Expect to see further advertising along the same lines in programs at sporting events, at doctors’ offices and other places high school parents might be found. The intent is to admonish parents in whose homes kids know they can drink or obtain alcohol.

“We did a survey that found a lot of students saying they were getting alcohol with adults,” said Jennifer Staab, MCCSC healthy schools coordinator. “Some parents feel allowing teens to drink in their homes, where they can be supervised to a degree, is better than letting them go out.

“What parents decide regarding their own kids, in their own homes, isn’t our focus. But particularly when they serve alcohol to other people’s kids, not their own kids, that’s a whole other thing. If it’s ‘Come over again on Friday night and drink at our house,’ we’re calling that into question. The consequences have been pretty great in our own community. We’ve seen accidents. We’ve seen fights.”

The billboards are funded by a state incentive grant through the Asset Building Coalition, a nonprofit group that promotes the development of 40 essential assets for youth and supports prevention efforts regarding alcohol, drug and tobacco abuse in Monroe County.

The Asset Building Coalition is partnering with the Monroe County Community School Corp. in an ongoing outreach program called Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol. It is one of four components funded primarily through a three-year, $300,000 grant Staab secured for the MCCSC from the U.S. Department of Education to promote healthier lifestyles. Within the context of the grant, the MCCSC has also introduced a “lifestyles” drug prevention curriculum into its required sophomore-level health classes, has begun a program designed for athletes and has a “reconnecting youth” program for the most at-risk students.

Susan Forney, Asset Building Coalition executive director, noted that the biggest providers of alcohol to underage youth remain new drinkers — 21- or 22-year-olds who themselves still feel essentially invincible or immune from consequences. But she backed up Staab’s contention that parent providers are a significant factor.

“We’re just trying to limit teen access to alcohol, and one place to start is with parents,” Forney said. “We’re not prohibitionists. Each parent, in their own conscience, has to draw the line as to how to handle the issue — but some parents draw no line whatsoever. Some look the other way, hosting parties and pretending they don’t see the booze coming in, even if they aren’t directly providing it. When it’s underage, it’s all illegal, but we’re going after what we feel is the truly irresponsible behavior.