College-district partnership
works on drug/alcohol awareness

The Brockport Central School District is teaming up with SUNY Brockport and the community to help deal with the issue of drug and alcohol abuse among young people, thanks to a $12,489 grant for the Healthy Campus Community Demonstration Project to help educate students about drug and alcohol abuse.

The grant, valid from January to May 2003, was funded through the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services at the state level and the Office of Juvenille Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the federal level. Karen Breslawski, student assistance coordinator at the Brockport Central School District, worked with Karen O'Toole and Kathy Weber from SUNY Brockport and Investigator Larry Crawford from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to write the grant.

At BCSD, the grant will be used for a DWI program, alcohol screening, training for the high school Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group and training for nursing staff about alcohol intervention. It will also be used to initiate a social norming campaign (creating positive messages such as, "Most BCSD students do NOT use club drugs like ecstasy") to reinforce abstinence.

Every three years the Student Assistance Program at BCSD surveys students in grades 6-12 about drug and alcohol use. Trained peer educators from SUNY Brockport will take the most recent survey data from grades 9-12 and work with the high school SADD group on norming. The students will then create posters and hang them around the school to advertise these messages.

"We want to get these messages out to students before prom and graduation season," Breslawski said. "Students may be put into situations where there will be drugs and alcohol available and we want to educate them about the risks involved."

BCSD plans to raise the awareness of DWI by re-enacting a fatal car crash scene for high school and college-age students. In addition, a peer panel is being organized by SUNY Brockport to help educate and reinforce the DWI program already offered through the school district's driver education program.