by David Flint
The mission of the organization, Together Reducing Alcohol and Drugs in our Community, is to build partnerships in the community of Berlin, Petersburgh, Grafton and Stephentown “to reduce high-risk behaviors including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, to help ensure that our youth may grow to their greatest potential.” At a breakfast meeting on January 11 at the Berlin Seventh Day Baptist Church Hall attended by County Executive Kathy Jimino, County Legislator Lester Goodermote and a good turnout of community and school leaders, several students reported
on how much they enjoyed learning in their participation at youth leadership conferences. Alissa Babcock, Jordan Cahill, Drew Kells and Libby Cass, along with several others of their peers who attended these conferences with them, are now equipped to act as role models and leaders in furthering the TRACS mission. They hoped that other area youths will have the opportunity to attend upcoming conferences.
Jimino advised that, “We all have a stake in this.” The County has its own role to play and has among other things provided Youth Summits, support for SADD chapters, a compliance program for liquor selling businesses and a prescription drug collection program. She said a survey taken every two years showed that risk factors as well as underage drinking and drug abuse had decreased county-wide as coalitions such as TRACS are established and grow more active. She applauded the leaders for their efforts.
TRACS Board Member Sue Cass went through some of the highlights of the 2010 survey that students in the Berlin School District responded to. Basically the survey showed some decrease in alcohol and drug use in the District, but the numbers are still higher than the County and higher than the eight state surrounding area. For example, in sixth grade one in ten students in 2008 reported having used alcohol in the last 30 days. That dropped to 9% in 2010, but that is still almost double the County average. This trend, she said, runs across the data. Also, protective factors such as opportunities for pro-social involvement and risk factors such as “community disorganization” and laws and norms favorable for substance abuse tend to be higher than both the County and the multi-state area.
Berlin High School Principal Cathy Allain said she was grateful for those who consistently support the program and for the core people who keep it going, but at the same time, “We need to widen the scope of community involvement beyond just this core group of members.” She and Student Assistance Counselor Jill Augustine listed the programs that are ongoing in the schools at the elementary, middle and high school level. They pointed out, however, that it’s not just a school crisis, it’s a community issue. “Children need parents and other adults to help them commit to a life without drugs and alcohol abuse,” Allain said.
Corinne Adams works for the County and is assisting TRACS in applying for a five year Drug Free Communities grant. The organization is now in the second year of a $75,000 federal mentoring grant that ends in September. Adams said this money has been used for training and organizing and has enabled activities such as providing a speaker at the High School Code of Conduct Night, which is mandatory for athletes and their parents. BMX trick bike riders were also brought in on Wellness Day and besides entertaining the students with amazing bicycle acrobatics also provided advice on healthy living.
Based on the data in the surveys, Adams said, TRACS has chosen to focus on alcohol and marijuana use. Now they will broaden that focus to include the two risk factors of “Low Commitment to School” and “Community and Parental Attitudes Favorable to Alcohol and Drug Use.” They will also focus on one protective factor, “Opportunities for Pro-social Involvement,” in other words, providing more fun and healthy activities for kids both in school and in the community at large.
As TRACS Director Biffy Cahill put it, “They want to be guided. They don’t want to be told what to do. They want to have fun. They don’t want to hear just, ‘Don’t do drugs!’ So we are here to bring everybody in the community together, the parents, Board members, business owners, to make a change. The future of TRACS is in your hands.”
