Beach Week - meetings for parents and teens; "Surviving Beach Week Manual"
Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking, April 3, 2008I
Bandfests - Alcohol- and Drug-Free Events Showcasing Youth Talent
Judicial Teen Driver's License Presentation
Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children
Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program (YADAPP)
Many high school seniors celebrate their graduation from high school with a week at the beach. SAFE hosts workshops that focus on Beach Week, from signing contracts to personal liability to underage drinking and law enforcement issues. A lawyer, a police officer and a health professional provide useful information for parents and their teens. Workshops were offered in October and January.
Click on the highlighted link for a copy of the Surviving Beach Week handbook.
Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking
A Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking was held Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. at John Tyler Community College, Chester Campus in the Nicholas Student Center. The event was hosted and led by students involved in SAFE activities related to underage drinking and substance abuse prevention. Results of the 2007 survey of Chesterfield County students in grades 8, 10 and 12 was also released at the event.
Click the link below to see the 2007 Report of the Underage Drinking Task Force, which includes the task force survey and compliance check results.
Report of the Underage Drinking Task Force 2007
Kayla Lupino and Kate Doyle, high school seniors, presented the results of the report of the Underage Drinking Task Force at a town hall meeting on underage drinking in May 2007. Jennifer Berry, Miss America 2006, was the featured speaker at SAFE's town hall meeting. She also spoke to the Brandermill and South Richmond Rotary Clubs.
(*There will not be a bandfest in 2008. If your band is interested in auditioning for 2009, please contact SAFE after October 15, 2008 at frith.safe@chesterfield.gov or 796-7100.)
Bandfests are events planned and implemented by youth, with the assistance of adults, to provide their peers a fun, safe, alcohol- and drug-free activity. This annual event showcases the talents of Chesterfield County teen bands. The bands audition before teen judges who determine who is selected to play at the events.
To be eligible to perform at a bandfest, at least one member of the band must be a Chesterfield County high school student. Band lyrics must be free of profanity and vulgarity and must not make positive references to violence or to the use of alcohol or other drugs. Bandfest 2007 - the House of Rock - was held February 16 with over 700 attendees.
Bands performing at The House of Rock were Brown Bear, Eat the Center, Concord, Kevin Beckley, Letters from a Fallen Soldier, and Ready the Way. In addition to the bands, there were inflatable games, video games, pool tables, Dance, Dance Revolution, karoke and prizes.
The bands who have performed at previous bandfests are A Girl Named Phoenix, Alive and Well, Archie's Trip, Close Quote, Farewell Manuela, Fidelity, Flunc, Forever Hold Your Peace, Forever in a Day, Go Indigo, Grace Under Fire, Hindsight 20/20, Holding Colefield, Intelligence,Kattiwankis, Lotus, Mass Exodus, Never Lost, Neighborhood Friendly, Romulus, Ronin's Story, Rushmore, Solars, Success by Failure, The Caste, The Electric Ace,The Rocking Chairs, Tragedy Letters, Waiting for Yesterday, and Writhe.
Bandfest received the 2006 Youth Services Award from the National Association of Counties. Representatives from SAFE traveled to Washington D.C. to accept the award at a breakfast ceremony in the Rayburn House Office Building. The Youth Services Award is a special award in NACo's Actings of Caring award program, which recognizes programs utilizing volunteers. Only 18 programs nationally received Acts of Caring awards and only one program, Bandfest, received the Youth Services Award. Representatives receiving the award (below) are Pastor Steve Harper, Southside Nazarene Church; Dr. Bancroft Greene, Chairman, SAFE Board of Directors; Sharyl Adams, Chesterfield County Youth Planning and Development; and Crystal Thornhill, youth representative from SAFE.
In 2005, SAFE piloted a project with 12 teams in the Chesterfield Boys Basketball League, a community recreational league, where coaches teach their team members short substance abuse prevention lessons once a week following practices. In 2006, the league expanded the program to all their instructional, minor and junior teams.
Players look up to their coaches, so they are ideal messengers to convey the importance of staying away from tobaccoo, alcohol and other drugs. SAFE provided coaches with a handbook containing 8 short lessons on topics such as why alcohol and athletes don't mix to why steroids are a quick way to ruin an athletic career. The final lesson covers how to help a friend who might have a substance-abuse problem. Coaches also received a short training prior to the season on how to use the lessons with their teams.
The intiative was evaluated at the end of the first season, with very positive results from both coaches and parents. The program will be expanded to all of the league's instructional, minor and junior teams next season. SAFE plans to eventually involve coaches in other leagues and sports in the initiative.
The pictures below are from the instructional league tournament at the end of the season. The final lesson was presented at the close of the tournament. All players received a medal in recognition for their participation in the program.
Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with your Family
"Family Day--A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children" is a national effort to promote parental engagement as a natural, effective way to reduce teen substance abuse risk. Family Day is meant to emphasize the importance of regular family activities and encourage Americans to make family dinners a regular feature of their lives.
Family day is the fourth Monday of each year. Celebrating Family Day is as simple as eating dinner with your children and engaging in other family activities.
Since 1996, research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has consistently shown that the more often a child eats dinner with his family, the less likely that child is to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.
CASA's Teen Survey found that teens from families that almost never eat dinner together are 72 percent likelier than the average teen to use illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, while those from families that almost always eat dinner together are 31 percent less likely than the average teen to engage in these activities. For more information on CASA's research findings, visit the CASA Web site.
SAFE is promoting this effort locally. We recognize that today's hectic schedules make it difficult for families to sit down together for a meal, especially as children reach the teen years. However, it is important to work in as many meals together as possible.
For tips on making mealtimes a positive experience, see "Substance Abuse and Dinner" on the list of topics on SAFE's Information for Parents page.
Use, You Lose is a comprehensive campaign
The campaign reaches students from kindergarten through 12th grade, their parents and the community. Components include:
"Student vs. Marijuana" is a live dramatization of what happens when a student brings marijuana to school. Initially developed by a team of students who attended the YADAPP leadership conference (see below), it has become an ongoing part of the Use, You Lose program. The presentation dramatizes what happens when a high school student brings marijuana to school, following the student through the consequences in the school system and in court.
"Student vs. Marijuana" contains three scenes. The first scene is set in school and shows the assistant principal discovering marijuana on a student and the school officer arresting the student. In the second scene, the school district's coordinator of student conduct meets with the student and his parent. He informs them that the student is being recommended for expulsion, explains the school board process for expulsion and answers the parent's questions. The final scene is held in juvenile court, where the student is prosecuted for marijuana possession. Each scene dramatizes what actually happens. All the participants, except for the student and parent, play their real life roles.
Pre- and post-tests on the program have shown the dramatization is a very effective educational tool.
Contact us for information on how to replicate this project in your community.
The pictures below are from a performance at Bailey Bridge Middle School.
SAFE sends a letter to all parents of high school seniors in May of each year reminding them of alcohol-related concerns associated with graduation. The letter addresses underage drinking at graduation parties and during beach week. It also includes a brochure to help parents talk with their children about college drinking issues.
Judicial Teen Driver's License Presentations
SAFE spearheads a monthly initiative to reach teen drivers and their parents. Each month, about 300 teens attend a judicial proceeding at a local high school to receive their official driver's license.
As students and their parents enter the building, they receive a SAFE bag containing information about safe driving and about the Use, You Lose program.
Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP)
SAFE encourages the participation of Chesterfield County high schools in YADAPP, a statewide youth leadership development conference held at a Virginia college for a week each summer. High school resource officers serve as sponsors to the YADAPP teams. SAFE held a special send-off for YADAPP participants at Clover Hill High School this summer.
Youth leave YADAPP with action plans they develop to address alcohol and drug issues in their local schools. They work with the school resource officers and their local school administration to implement these plans during the school year. SAFE is working with the teams to encourage their implementation of these projects. Go to top of page
Parenting Wisely and The Wise Parent
Effective parenting plays a critical role in preventing problems such as substance abuse and delinquency in youth. The Chesterfield Parenting Education Coalition has a listing of all parenting education opportunities in the county. Parents can access this information through Chesterfield County Youth Planning and Development (796-7100). The information is also posted on the Internet on the web site for Chesterfield County Youth Planning and Development.
SAFE received grant funding to help promote countywide use of an innovative parenting education program called Parenting Wisely. This program is a highly interactive, multimedia program contained on a CD for computer use. It is designed for parents of pre-teens and teens. A version for parents of younger children is also available. Parent feedback has been very positive about the program. Parents find it easy to use, practical and helpful. The program has been selected as one of the nation's top delinquency and substance abuse prevention programs.
The young children version of Parenting Wisely and the adolescent version are available for use at the Bensley Elementary School library and at Harrowgate Elementary School (in the community resource center trailor).
Spanish versions of Parenting Wisely are available at the Bensley Elementary School library and the Parent Resource Center at Chalkley Elementary School.
The Wise Parent is comprised of a set of three CDs. Parents can check them out through Chesterfield public libraries. The Wise Parent is also available at most Chesterfield middle school libraries.