Many Roundtable initiatives focus on prevention. Prevention is defined as creating or enhancing environmental conditions within communities, families, schools, and workplaces that protect individuals from risk and help them develop decision making skills.
Prevention Partners
Preventing risk behaviors among young people is the responsibility of the entire community. Some of the partners in this effort include:
- School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties
- LRADAC, The Behavioral Health Center of the Midlands
- The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC)
- Local law enforcement agencies
- Social services agencies
- Faith community
- Community groups
- Parents
- Educators
- Youth
The Community Roundtable used a variety of techniques to determine the needs of the community and available resources. These techniques included focus groups, key informant interviews, parent surveys and other data collection. We discovered the following:
- Communities within School District Five have changed a great deal in the past fifteen years, becoming more diverse.
- Many young people have money, cell phones, free time, cars, etc. making alcohol and other drugs more accessible.
- Many young people and some parents and educators in the area view alcohol use among teens as normative, accepted behavior.
- Some parents allow underage youth to drink alcohol in their homes and are unaware of the legal, civil and social consequences.
- Marijuana use is popular; however, alcohol is the main drug of choice.
- Young people do not believe they are likely to be caught by law enforcement, parents or educators if they are using alcohol or other drugs.
- A variety of resources are available, but many community members are not aware of them.
Although some youth, parents and educators view alcohol use among teens as normal behavior, Most District Five students don't drink.
In response to the Needs and Resources Assessment, the Community Roundtable developed several goals and objectives:
- To increase parents' knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of alcohol and other drug abuse, as well as intervention and treatment resources.
- To increase educators' knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of alcohol and other drug abuse, as well as intervention and treatment resources.
- To increase parents', educators' and students' accurate perceptions of the number of District Five students who do not use alcohol; according to our research, Most District Five students don't drink.
- To increase parents' intent to use effective parenting strategies and set clear family norms regarding alcohol and other drug use.
- To decrease the number of sales of alcohol to underage youth.
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