You don’t have to be an adult to make a real impact. Although many conflicting messages about drug and alcohol use may compete for your attention, you can empower yourself by getting informed and getting active. By making your voice heard, you can make your community a healthier place for your neighbors, your friends and yourself.

Action Steps

• Be a role model for your peers by making healthy lifestyle decisions about drug and alcohol use.
  
  
• Help your school to organize after school activities.
  
  
• Voice your concern to friends if you think they are having a problem with alcohol or drugs.
  
  
• Get involved in a community coalition or advocacy group. It is important that the youth in the community have a voice.
  
  
• Volunteer your time at a local family shelter or treatment center.
  
  
• Start or join a chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD).

Resources

Students Against Destructive Decisions

Freevibe

The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network

thecoolspot.gov is an interactive site designed for young people, featuring FAQs, statistics, and other information.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy

What others have done

In Carroll County, Md., the Fool Proof high school student improvisational drama troupe raises awareness of issues like teen suicide, drug abuse, and domestic violence.

Fool Proof, comprised of 12 students from Carroll County high schools, perform at schools, substance abuse treatment facilities, and other venues throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia. Drama teacher Roberta Gore formed the group 18 years ago, naming it after a library billboard that read "Knowledge will make you foolproof."

"The mission is to open the door on problems that people go through and let them know it's OK to talk about it," says Paul Zimmerman, Fool Proof's artistic director, who has worked with the troupe since its founding. "For instance, drug abuse. ... People look at a drug addict and see an addict or a bum. We show our audiences that they are people."

The student actors undergo training in improvisation and miming skills and perform improvised, emotionally charged background scenes during rehearsals to develop their characters. The troupe is funded by community donations and educated on issues by experts from local agencies, including the attorney's office and rape crisis center.

"We try to make the characters as three-dimensional as possible, so we don't have stereotypes," says Zimmerman "The characters have to be real."

The most popular aspect of the show is the post-performance question session, when the actors answer audience questions while remaining in character.

"This is a way for me to not only express the way I feel and to learn, but it also helps others," said Fool Proof actor Steve Cohen, 16. "It's not for the stage time. It's for the feeling you get when you realize you have touched someone else."