Prevention Works!

Your Time--Their Future: SAMHSA Announces Positive Activities Campaign

On September 22, SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention launched the Your Time--Their Future Campaign--a national call for more adult participation in children’s lives. The Campaign is designed to work with the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, the President’s Summit for America’s Future, and the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative.

This Campaign is based on studies indicating that adult guidance is often a critical prevention tool. A recent study conducted by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America showed that youth who met with a mentor about three times a month for at least one year were much less likely to begin using drugs and alcohol or to skip school. Research also shows that structured activities led by adults, whether family members or community volunteers, can help to build skills, self-esteem, self-discipline, and positive thinking that protect against drug use--particularly among 7- to 14-year-olds.

Through print, television, and radio public service announcements (PSA’s), publications, and the Internet, the Campaign aims to get more adults involved with youth, whether as volunteer mentors, tutors, coaches, career advisers, outdoor educators, school program leaders, or simply as more attentive parents and grandparents. The PSA’s are audience-specific. For example, several of the PSA’s target specific racial and ethnic groups, while five of the print PSA’s include large type for easier reading.

The PSA’s will feature the toll-free number for SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, where callers can order publications and get more information about volunteering. Information specialists will have access to a database of local volunteer opportunities, and they will be able to transfer callers directly to organizations in their area. The database was developed in cooperation with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, The Points of Light Foundation, and The One to One Program.

The Campaign will progress through a series of phases targeting different audiences and drawing on the support of a range of organizations. Future alerts will highlight special publications associated with the Your Time--Their Future campaign.

To receive a complimentary copy of this PreventionAlert, call SAMSHA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) @ 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired.) PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov

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