See The Bigger Picture...For A Brighter Future

In our community, our mission is to change social norms. Drinking and marijuana use don't have a high perception of harm in our town. Drug use becomes a bigger issue as our children leave for college and start careers; some never return due to overdoses. Vaping also is a huge concern, so community leaders are very supportive of prevention efforts. Segments of the parent population are either uninformed about youth vaping or condone it, so many of our prevention activities involve parent education.

• About 50 adults and youth attended. As a first-time event for our organization, we were pleased with that turnout, but hope that holding future events will improve attendance.

We planned a follow-up event for the end of April but had to postpone until September due to COVID-19 and shelter in place orders. It is our hope that the youth who were previously involved will still be motivated to assist with our event in September.

• StopAlcoholAbuse.gov website
• Communities Talk website
• Communities Talk planning guides
• Communities Talk toolkits
• Informational brochures

• Educated youth and parents
• Built community cohesiveness and support for our efforts
• Created an opportunity to share resources and practices with other community stakeholders
• Helped plan future prevention efforts
• Raised awareness of substance abuse and/or underage drinking issues in our community

Youth helped plan and implement the event we hosted. It consisted of a "hidden in plain sight" display of a teen bedroom that showed signs of substance misuse. Youth and adults alike were surprised at ways alcohol and drugs can be disguised. The youth also coordinated a panel with representation from law enforcement, mental health, and education for a discussion after the display. Our post-event survey indicated that participants increased their knowledge after the event and felt a desire to attend similar events.