Friday Night Live: Changing Youth Perception

Friday Night Live and Club Live groups at each of eight secondary schools are working hard this spring to develop social norms campaigns for each of their school campuses, which will highlight the number of youth who choose to be drug and alcohol free on a daily basis. Recent prevention studies show that youth often over-estimate the number of their peers who are using drugs and alcohol. Youth perception that the majority of their peers are using drugs and alcohol makes youth more likely to experiment. Therefore, Friday Night Live/Club Live members are actively sharing with their school campuses that the majority of youth in Santa Barbara are NOT using drugs and alcohol and instead choose healthy alternatives. Upcoming activities that are a part of this exciting youth-led movement include the following:

O Publication of 2010 Free for the Weekend Writing Contest Entries by local youth in local news media—April 2010

O School-based classroom presentations, activities, and pledging—April 12th-16th, 2010 (at all secondary schools from Goleta to Carpinteria)

O Youth-led Town Hall Meeting to Reduce Underage Drinking—Thursday, April 15th, 2010 (Cabrillo Arts Pavillion)

O Merchant freebies to show community-wide support to our youth that pledge to be drug, alcohol, and violence free—April 17th-18th, 2010

O YES! Fair to inspire community and youth activism—Saturday, April 17th, 2010 (Twelve 35 Teen Center- Sponsored by the Coalition Against Gun Violence)

For more information on Friday Night live/Club Live or any of the above activities, please contact our Program Coordinator, Melissa Wilkins (mwilkins@cadasb.org, 805.730.7575)