A local coalition wants to connect high school students from across the county who want to keep their peers away from alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
Empower Johnson County, which started in 2015, is on a mission to stop youth substance abuse. The organization wants to create a new coalition of students from the six Johnson County public high schools, along with private school and home-schooled students who are interested in promoting a healthy lifestyle, said Miranda Broomfield, the organization’s youth coordinator.
This is the first time Empower Johnson County has started a coalition that includes students from area high schools. Federal Drug-Free Community Support Program grants give $125,000 a year to Empower Johnson County, which uses the money to pay its employees and coordinate events such as post-prom, which provides drug and alcohol-free activities for high school seniors after their prom, Broomfield said.
Seniors have gone bowling and to Rascal’s Fun Zone in Whiteland as part of previous post-proms, said Michelle McMahon, a coordinator with Empower Johnson County.
Empower Johnson County has also hosted events that spread awareness and information about a drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free lifestyle, such as when it hosted a Harry Potter screening at the Artcraft Theatre. It has also given away prizes, such as free pizza, at high school football games to students who follow the organization on Instagram, McMahon said.
The coalition of high school students is a collaboration with Tobacco Free Johnson County and will focus on preventing underage nicotine use. Most of its events and outreach efforts will come from the direction of those students, Broomfield said.
“We want to create a group that focuses on nicotine, vaping and underage tobacco use,” Broomfield said. “We wanted to include youth in prevention. If they’re creating ways to help, they can make sure their ideas are being heard. We want to have a representative from every single school district in the county. If there’s one from each school that’s great but if they and a friend or someone they know wants to, they can work on initiatives in their own school.”
Along with organizing post-prom, Empower Johnson County has gotten middle school students involved in events during Red Ribbon Week, a national campaign dedicated to drug prevention that takes place each year at the end of October. One of the first activities high school students in the coalition will be involved is the Great American Smokeout, which takes place Nov. 21, Bloomfield said.
Students will be part of the group’s effort to raise awareness that day, which is organized by the American Cancer Society as a day to quit smoking, according to the organization’s website.
Most of the other events and activities will be up to students, who will meet twice a month, once online and once in person. Students have until Oct. 21 to sign up, either through the Empower Johnson County Facebook page or a link on its Instagram page. The only requirement for students along with attending those meetings will be to stay off drugs, tobacco and alcohol, McMahon said.
“Youth don’t get a lot of rewards for making positive decisions,” McMahon said. “We’re constantly hearing about negatives on the news, someone gets in trouble and they rarely give rewards for positive role models. We need to have rewards for positive role models, particularly with the youth.”
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Johnson County high school students who want to be a part of the drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free coalition must sign up by Oct. 21 by clicking the link on the @empowerbethemajority Instagram page or the Empower Johnson County Facebook page.
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