Take Action

Giving youth the opportunity to take action is an important part of our youth empowerment model. The types of activities and initiatives that our youth empowerment group takes on usually fall into one or more of these categories:

• Education: Using live, on-line, or video presentations to get your message out to others. As we use the term here, it implies a planned, structured and scheduled opportunity to educate others in a situation where the audience has agreed to hear the information. This includes everything from speaking to a classroom of 2^nd graders to an assembly of 300 high school students to parents at a PTA meeting.

• Media Messages: Includes any use of the mass media to get your message out to a wider audience (such as: radio, TV, posters, YouTube, or another web site).

• Community Awareness Projects: Includes any initiative, project or program designed to make the community more aware of a substance abuse issue. Usually has the effect of informing the target audience of a risk or consequence of use or making them more aware of a problem so that they will be more receptive to participating in solutions.

• Policy Change: Could include trying to change federal, state or local legislation. However, it also includes such things as government regulations on locations that sell alcohol, a school policy on wearing clothing advertising beer, or a restaurant’s policy on the number of drinks they will serve to one person.