More High School Juniors Thinking, Not Drinking: Summer Scavenger Hunt Offers Prizes

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Summer Scavenger Hunt Offers Prizes

Santa Cruz County Friday Night Live youth leaders from Pajaro Valley High School, Pajaro Middle School, Watsonville YMCA, and the Countywide Youth Council Chapters are tackling underage drinking by sharing the positive data: Most local youth are not using alcohol before age 21.

Friday Night Live youth recognized that perceptions of youth attitudes and behaviors significantly influence a young person’s attitudes and behaviors. Unfortunately, these perceptions are often inaccurate.

According to the most recent California Healthy Kids Survey, 82 percent of 11th graders in Santa Cruz County have not used alcohol in the past 30 days.

Data for Pajaro Valley Unified School District covering students at Pajaro Middle School, Pajaro Valley High School, and Watsonville YMCA reported 95 percent of 7th graders, 90 percent of 9th graders, and 85 percent of 11th-grade youth choose not to drink alcohol.

Friday Night Live youth used this data to developed poster messages to educate and reinforce positive behaviors, highlighting the fact a majority of youth in Santa Cruz County are choosing to not drink alcohol.

To share these messages, youth developed a summer scavenger hunt with prizes.

Posters can be seen at youth-centric locations and participating stores and restaurants throughout Santa Cruz County. Here’s how to play.

Take a picture with a poster, upload the picture to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the tag @sccfnlp by Aug. 31, and you will be entered into a prize drawing! Prizes include backpacks, water bottles, headphones, t-shirts, and more. There is no limit on entries; for every unique picture you tag @sccfnlp, you will be entered to win.

Winners will be announced on Sept. 2.

Funding was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“In today’s society there is the stigma that large amounts of youth drink alcohol when, in reality, this is an over-estimate,” said Emily Palone, FNL Youth Council member.

“This generalization of underage drinking overlooks the smart and healthy choices we have made,” she added. “The positive social norms campaign highlights these great choices and supports us in continuing to make healthy choices by choosing not to drink alcohol.”

The summer campaign also targets adults, encouraging parents to talk to their kids about alcohol and to monitor and secure alcohol in their homes to prevent underage use. n

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For more information about the Friday Night Live program, which engages youth as active leaders and resources in their community. or the poster scavenger hunt, email: sccfnlp@santacruzcounty.us, call: 831-3598450, or follow @sccfnlp on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.