Educational Summit on Youth

A community breakfast and summit on Youth

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Superintendent of Schools Janice White (pictured right) and DA Murphy Co-hosted the first of its kind, an "Educational Summit on Youth".  In sponsorship with the Prevention Council and the Partnership for Prevention, this unprecedented day long session resulted in tremendous collaboration with community partners having found answers to their questions and having found a number of issues that can be addressed and worked on in the future.  Nearly 175 parents, professionals, law enforcement and educators attended the workshops. 

Why A Summit?

1. To identify the risks associated with substance use and underage alcohol use.
2. To learn about the developmental reasons for risk-taking behavior by adolescents.
3. To engage community members in a conversation about t youth and the challenges they face today.

Why Now?

1. Survey results show that regular alcohol use, binge drinking and marijuana use among local 10th  through 11th grade youth are each higher than the national average.
2. Because kids are more likely to make good choices when they have positive relationship not only with their families, but asp with their schools an communities.

The Partnership for Prevention brought together a coalition of community agencies and individuals committed to reducing alcohol and substance use among youth in Saratoga Springs.  The coalition has been serving the community for eight years with parent resources, school based initiatives and programs to reduce underage drinking and substance use.  The members of the Partnership include; 

• The Saratoga Springs City School District and the District's Character   Education Committee
• The Saratoga Springs City  Police Department
• The Prevention Council
• District Attorney Jim Murphy
• Many Community Agencies

The Keynote Speaker:

Michael Nerney

Mr. Nerney is a consultant in substance abuse prevention and education, with over 25 years experience in the field.  His understanding of adolescent issues is drawn from 12 years experience as a teacher and coach at the junior high and high school levels. , including three years with that Adirondack Mountain School, a residential school for boys.  He went on to add four years experience in the chemical dependency field as a substance abuse counselor and Director o the Drug Abuse Prevention Council in Hamilton County, NY , before joining the staff lf of the Training Institute of Narcotic and Drug g Research in 1984.  He has been a consultant for two major television networks and has also appeared on the ABC Program "20/20". 

Michael Nerney, former director of the Training Institute of Narcotic and Drug Research, Inc., and currently a substance abuse prevention and education consultant, gave the afternoon plenary address. Nerney, an expert in the areas of psychopharmacology and adolescent chemical dependency, focused on the effect of drugs and alcohol on fetuses and on children; pre- and post-natal exposure to drugs and alcohol, he warned, “changes brains in substantial, measurable, structural ways.” He also discussed issues like “procurement,” which happens when adults tell their children to “get my cigarettes out of the car,” or “get me a beer out of the fridge.”  Nerney said that these kinds of demands on a child lead to broader, long-term problems: for instance, children 13 and under who are made to procure alcohol for their parents have a 47% chance of developing a lifetime dependency on alcohol themselves.

Future conversations regarding the issues that face our youth and are community are planned.  Working together we can nurture healthy behavior and positive choices in our community.