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MCPYA Teen Night
Hosted by:
Madison County Prevention
Please briefly describe your Communities Talk activity.
Madison County Prevention is an affiliate of Madison County’s Family and Children First Council. The program’s goal is to provide positive activities and tools to enhance teens’ well-being. The event, derived from the Madison County Prevention Youth Ambassadors’ (MCPYA) during the 2021/2022 school year, designed a survey to be completed, voluntarily, by five high schools across Madison County. This survey identified the following problematic behaviors for youth in Madison County: vaping, alcohol, THC, and bullying. The lack of healthy coping strategies and things to do in Madison County were risk factors. Due to this, the MCPYAs decided to host quarterly teen nights to engage youth, provide a safe space for youth to have fun, and provide resources. This teen night took place in March 2023. MCPYAs used the Sources of Strength model to design stations at the Teen Night for young people to participate in, such as yoga and mindfulness, volleyball, the Just Dance video game, an art class (art donated to senior centers in Madison County), Peer-to-Peer provided by YouthMOVE, and resources tables providing materials from SADD, Youth MOVE, Buckeye School, Public Health, Madison County Prevention, and Family Services. The event was held on March 10, 2023.
How does alcohol and other drug misuse affect your community?
Per the OHYes! survey conducted in 2018/2019, the following are the most significant areas of concern for 7th, 9th and 11th graders. Regarding alcohol, 25% of females and 37.6% of males perceived no risk in binge drinking. By grade, 33.2% of 7th graders, 28.4% of 9th graders, and 33.4% of 11th graders perceived no risk in binge drinking. Among the male population, 13.2% had their first drink prior to the age of 13. During the past 30 days, 8.7% of females and 9.1% of males consumed alcohol on one or more occasions, and 8.1% of 9th graders and 16.4% of 11th graders consumed alcohol on one or more occasions. Regarding electronic vapor products, 10.2% of females and 10.2% of males used vape one or more times in the past 30 days. By grade, 13.2% of 9th graders and 14.3% of 11th graders used an electronic vapor product one or more times in the past 30 days. Based on the COVID Student Survey results, 83.3% of students believe the number-one health concern among young people is depression/anxiety, 7.1% identified vaping as the number-one health concern, and 7.1% identified screen time as the number-one health concern. In addition, 35.7% of students believe the number-one health concern for adult populations is depression/anxiety, 31% of students believe the number-one health concern for adult populations is obesity, and 23.8% of students believe the number-one health concern for adult populations is alcohol.
Which prevention strategy(ies), as defined by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, best fit your Communities Talk activity?
- Community-Based Process Strategy - focuses on enhancing the capacity of the community to address AOD issues through organizing, planning, collaboration, coalition building, and networking.
- Information Dissemination Strategy - focuses on improving awareness and knowledge of the effects of AOD issues on communities and families through “one-way” communication with the audience such as speaking engagements, health fairs, and distribution of print materials.
- Education Strategy – focuses on “two-way” communication between the facilitator and participants and aims to improve life/social skills such as decision making, refusal skills, and critical analysis.
- Alternative Strategy – focuses on redirecting individuals from potentially problematic situations and AOD use by providing constructive and healthy events/activities.
What goal(s) did you hope to accomplish with your Communities Talk activity?
- Start a youth-led coalition on alcohol and/or other drug misuse prevention.
- Develop strategic plans to reduce and prevent alcohol and/or other drug misuse.
- Build coalitions with other agencies or programs to reduce and prevent alcohol and/or other drug misuse.
Our youth ambassadors represent all parts of Madison County. After reviewing their 2021/2022 school year substance use survey, which they designed, the youth ambassadors completed training sessions to learn about risk factors and protective factors and how to improve overall well-being for themselves and their peers. They took this knowledge and created a Teen Night, which allowed them to share information with their peers through positive social engagements. This event is now held quarterly for high schoolers, rotating location in the county.
Did you accomplish your goal(s)?
Yes
What challenge(s) did you face in planning your activity this year?
- Needed additional resources to conduct activity
- Lack of promotion/awareness of our activity or organization
How did you overcome these challenges?
We reached out to local donors, volunteers to assist. In the future for our next event(s) we will be utilizing multiple marketing avenues to increase participation.
What are your next steps?
- Host follow-up meetings or activities
- Expand our coalition with new partnerships in the community
If you’ve conducted Communities Talk activities in prior years, how has your repeated participation contributed to progress in achieving your prevention goals?
This event was better than the last. We had more participants, volunteers and community donations.
Organizations that conduct Communities Talk activities often involve other organizations in the planning and execution of events. Please indicate which type(s) of organizations you involved in your activity planning.
- Faith-based based organizations
- Youth-led organizations
- Local chapters of national organizations
- Charitable organizations
- Local businesses
Which of the following best describes the primary audience(s) for your Communities Talk activity?
Youth, primarily Madison County students in grades 9–12.
How did you reach and engage your primary audience(s) to encourage them to participate in your activity?
Which Communities Talk resources (or other SAMHSA resources) were most helpful for your activity?
- Tips & Tools for Hosting a Virtual Event
- Communities Talk website
- Communities Talk planning guides
- Communities Talk toolkits
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