| Be The Wall |
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Drug Free Highlands, a community coalition, is launching a multi-media campaign intended to encourage and support parents, retailers, and community members in their efforts to keep teens from drinking.
Over the next year, the Drug Free Highlands in partnership with the Board of County Commissioners, Department of Juvenile Justice, Heartland Education Consortium, Heartland Workforce, Highlands County Health Department, Highlands County School Board, Avon Park High School and S.A.D.D. chapters from each High School, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, YMCA, and Youth for Christ will ask the community to “Be the Wall” between teens and alcohol.
The simply stated campaign is designed on the premise that while alcohol may be the primary substance of choice for teens across the state and country, underage drinking should be the single most preventable at risk behavior among our teenagers. Debbie Lees, Substance Abuse Reduction Guide Coordinator, states, “Underage drinking comes down to access – if our teens cannot get their hands on it, they cannot use it. We are asking all community members to help us limit access to alcohol for teens once and for all.”
In Highlands County the 2008 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey reports that most teens are not drinking. However, of the 34% that report drinking in the past 30 days, 20% are self-reported binge drinkers.
Current research indicates that the teen brain is still developing until the mid-20s. The introduction of alcohol, particularly in large quantities, may impair brain development. The developing teen brain also makes teens more impulsive and less likely to consider consequences of their behavior – for this reason; the campaign encourages all adults to be clear, firm and consistent when talking with teens about alcohol..
The multi-media campaign is part of a partnership between Highlands County and the Department of Children and Families and Florida Office of Drug Control. Its components include an interactive web site (www.BetheWall.org) where parents can text their teen, humorous posters about natural communication gaps between teens and parents, community displays, guerilla marketing strategies and more. The focus will be on the developing adolescent brain and the behaviors that accompany its development. Using humor, adults will be educated regarding how, at times, teens are illogical, impulsive, rebellious, take risks, and test boundaries. To address this behavior, we ask parents to be clear, be firm and to be consistent.
Local agencies and businesses wishing to participate in the campaign by displaying images should contact Andre Centonzio, Department of Health at (863) 273-0491. Questions about the county wide campaign should contact Debbie Lees, SARG Coordinator at 863-385-0024. Questions about the statewide campaign should be directed to Amity Chandler (941) 815-7743. Be The Wall is a statewide social marketing campaign sponsored by the Florida Governor’s Office of Drug Control, Florida Department of Children and Families, and the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant.
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