PreventionFIRST!, in collaboration with the Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, will host the 2017 Red Ribbon Week Youth Summit on Friday.
The Youth Summit is designed to engage students in grades nine through 12 from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in substance use/misuse prevention. This is a unique opportunity for youth to engage with community leaders and approximately 100 of their peers to talk about issues related to substance use.
Participating youth will:
– Learn prevention skills to take back to their school
– Network with other high school students
– Participate in activities around the Cincinnati Zoo
The Truth Initiative INSPIRING TOBACCO-FREE LIVES will provide the keynote speaker for the event. TheTruth Initiative works to create a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco. They speak, seek and spread the truth about tobacco through education, tobacco control research and policy studies, and community activism and engagement.
PreventionFIRST! is a 501(c)(3) non-profit aimed at promoting wellness through the prevention of substance use/misuse across the lifespan. Its vision is that people make healthy choices in every stage of life.
“We know peer to peer education is an effective way to engage young people to make healthy choices as it relates to substance use decisions,” says Mary Haag, President/CEO of PreventionFIRST! “Giving youth the skills to use their voice helps them encourage and model healthy behaviors to their peers.”
This year’s Youth Summit will be held at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. The event was planned and will be led by youth who participated in the PreventionFIRST! Youth Leadership Institute in July.
“Being part of PreventionFIRST! has been not only an honor but one of the most influential experience I have had thus far,” said Lily Marino, a senior at Saint Henry District High School in Erlanger. “When I entered high school I wasn’t the strong and empowered extrovert I am today. This opportunity with PreventionFIRST! has taught me how to flourish my inner leadership skills, and how I am the change I wish to see.”
Red Ribbon Week is a national drug awareness campaign to collectively promote intolerance for the use of illegal drugs, as well as the illegal use of legal drugs, and to encourage youth to make a commitment to a drug-free lifestyle.
PreventionFIRST!
