Title
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) / REALITY Illinois Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention Youth Group - Pfister
Body
Prevention Services coordinates a county-wide alcohol and tobacco prevention youth group, combining youth from the Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force's Youth Advisory Board and Tobacco Free Lake County program's REALITY Illinois. In this program, high school students from all over the county learn advocacy skills by participating in hands-on activities promoting alcohol and tobacco compliance and policies throughout Lake County.
During the past school year, they have learned through interaction with local police departments that compliance checks are an important type of environmental prevention strategy that deters alcohol and tobacco outlets from selling to underage youth. They have also learned that frequent use of compliance checks decreases alcohol and tobacco sales to minors and are associated with reduced problems in the community associated with underage drinking or tobacco use. They have participated in conducting an assessment of the current compliance check practices taking place in Lake County by interviewing local police departments.
These students have used this information, along with the current alcohol and tobacco data from the Illinois Youth Survey, to compile a compelling presentation that will be conducted to the Antioch Police Department in April and at the Lake County Liquor Commissioners Forum on May 16th that is being hosted by the Lake County Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force. The goal of this presentation is to encourage all municipalities to conduct compliance checks consistently and frequently, and to report their results to the Lake County Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force.
Other successes include: Participating on a youth panel for the Lake County Juvenile Justice Prevention Conference in September, two tobacco-prevention radio ads and one underage drinking prevention radio ad written and recorded by REALITY IL/YAB teens with each ad airing on 102.3 WXLC during the month of May, assisting with a tobacco prevention poster campaign for Kick Butts Day in April, and conducting a letter campaign to be distributed by the local police departments to retailers that pass their compliance checks thanking them for their contribution to preventing underage drinking and tobacco use.
These twenty teens exceeded expectations in their contributions to the project and to the overall public health in Lake County. They are leaders in both their school and community, and are tobacco and alcohol-free role models for youth around them.
Carmel Catholic High School: Nissiya Adjei, Joycelyn Adjei, Sam Lubor, Priyal Patel
Shoreland Lutheran High School: Jennifer Beres
Round Lake High School: Erika Martinez, Monique Vieira
Vernon Hills High School: Dimple Mehta, Heena Singh
Warren Township High School: Bismah Arif, Jessica Mitchell, Mayu Mizuki, Nina Rivera, Jennifer Takamura
Lakes Community High School: Nirali Shah
Libertyville High School: Julian Janzak
Stevenson High School: Blandon Su
Zion-Benton Community High School: Anais Anguino, Autumn Ford, ChrisJon Willis
Suggested Motion
Recognition of REALITY Illinois/YAB teens for their contributions to public health by advocating for more consistent and frequent compliance checks being conducted in Lake County.