sarahdupree posted on October 05, 2011 13:23
Last Thursday’s Gazette explained plans for a new coalition, Janesville Mobilizing 4 Change, that will tackle alcohol and drug abuse and other at-risk behavior among our community’s youth.
It’s among coalitions that Partners in Prevention-Rock County is helping establish in communities to assess local conditions and craft local solutions.
In the Janesville School District, a committee has been fighting alcohol, tobacco and other drug use for years. State funding, however, is quickly dwindling. So the district will team up with businesses, youth organizations, parents and children, law enforcement and civic groups in Janesville Mobilizing 4 Change.
“The coalition envisions a united Janesville focused on changing social norms to a safer and healthier community,” Sarah Johnson, Partners in Prevention community outreach specialist, said in last Thursday’s Gazette.
You can read more about it from that story by clicking here.
A 2010 survey reinforced the need. It showed that almost 40 percent of high school students here drank alcohol in the past 30 days. Almost 12 percent of middle school students reported drinking alcohol before age 10. About 25 percent of high school students smoked marijuana at least once, and 26 percent took medicine without a prescription.
Does this new coalition have any chance of succeeding here in Wisconsin, where beer remains king and where we remain the only state that doesn’t make a crime of your first-time drunken-driving offense? What must the coalition do to succeed, and how critical is its success to our community?