HOLLISTER
A handful of employees from the County of San Benito Behavioral Health Department substance abuse program held a kickoff meeting last week that will get community members involved in changing teen alcohol consumption.
The program is called “Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol,” and one of the key components is to set up a coalition that will include substance abuse staff as well as members of the community to change attitudes and perceptions about teen drinking, as well as limiting access to alcohol.
“It’s not just us doing the work,” said Renee Hankla, the county’s substance abuse supervisor. “It is empowering community members to take ownership. We need to get more youth involved. It’s not about us.”
The San Benito County Office of Education staff received a three-year grant in 2008 to reduce teen alcohol use in the county, and they partnered with the Behavioral Health Department to implement a program.
Every two years, the state of California conducts a survey of students in fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh grade to find out about drug and alcohol attitudes and behavior. More than 2,000 students were surveyed in San Benito County.
The results for the most recent study, which came out in 2007, found that 66 percent of high school students reported having consumed alcohol in the last year.
More troubling, officials note, is that 40 percent of students at traditional schools said they had consumed alcohol in the last month and 70 percent of students at alternative high schools did so. The state average was 41 percent.
See the complete story in the Friday edition of The Weekend Pinnacle, which will post online Friday evening at www.pinnaclenews.com
