submitted by TRACs
TRACs (Together Reducing Alcohol and drugs in our CommunitieS) proudly sent six dynamic youth from our area to the Eastern States Youth to Youth Conference in Rhode Island on July 28-31. The registration for the Y2Y Conference was funded by the Drug Free Mentoring Grant that TRACs was awarded from Rensselaer County Mental Health’s Federal Drug Free Communities Grant.
Youth to Youth was founded in 1982 in Columbus, OH, as a community based drug prevention and youth leadership program focusing primarily on middle school and high school students. The goal of its many projects is harnessing the powerful influence of peer pressure, making it a positive force that encourages young people to live free of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
From its inception Youth to Youth recognized that nationally and internationally actions needed to be taken to change attitudes and behaviors surrounding drugs and their usage in this generation, or the resulting conditions in our communities could only get worse. Youth to Youth had a plan for success with teens as the nucleus.
Due to the continuing achievement Youth to Youth is having in the areas of youth involvement and drug prevention at a local level, hundreds of communities in the United States and abroad have chosen the program model to help facilitate favorable change and have utilized the Youth to Youth model to initiate or improve their positive prevention programming.
Youth at the conference experienced family groups in which tight bonds were formed, games and activities, team work building skills, workshops and programs that spawned fresh concepts. “Dexterity Checks” fostered pride, speakers cultivated enthusiasm and energy and with events such as Messy Games, Carnival Night and “The Original Social Network” Dance they experienced some good old fashioned “drug free fun.” When asked to describe their experiences in one word, the responses from the youth in our communities were “epic, awesome, “amazing, unforgettable” and “incredible.” The youth are looking forward to bringing some of this enthusiasm and pride into the area through the iconic Youth to Youth experience.
