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Underage Drinking Campaign Letters to the Editor
Parents Can Help Their Teens Create Lasting Memories Safely This Prom and Graduation by MPC STOP Grant Coordinator Rachel Andoscia
Making a Safe Super Bowl Party Game Plan for All Including Teens, by MPC Leadership Team Member Ann Schultz.
Parents Can Help Teens Have a Safe Holiday Season by Calvary United Methodist Church Pastor and MPC Secretary Reverend Laurie Pauley.
Keeping Teens Safe This Thanksgiving by MPC STOP Grant Coordinator Rachel Andoscia.
Keeping summer healthy and safe for your teen by MPC Director Lori Verderosa.
Celebrating Graduation Safely by MPC STOP Grant Coordinator Rachel Andoscia.
Prom season safety and our "Talk They Hear You" Campaign by MPC Parent Representative Jake Cathers.
Adults should celebrate St. Patrick's Day responsibly, our teens are watching by Helen Sowinski.
Introducing MPC's new underage drinking campaign "Talk They Hear You!" focusing on safe Super Bowl Celebrations by Helen Sowinski.
To read Middletown’s Social Host Ordinance click Here.
The Coalition has launched our campaign, “Talk They Hear You” developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), encouraging parents and caregivers to talk their kids about the health risks and dangers of underage drinking.
Learn about the program and the resources available at samhsa.gov/talk-they-hear-you.
“Talk. They Hear You” mobile app
This app helps parents and caregivers prepare for some of the most important conversations they may ever have with their kids. It shows them how to turn everyday situations into opportunities to talk with their children about alcohol and other drugs, and equips them with the necessary skills, confidence, and knowledge to start and continue these conversations as their kids get older.
App Features include:
- Sample conversation starters
- Ways to keep the conversation going
- An interactive practice simulation section
- The opportunity to earn badges for practicing and having real-life conversations
- A resources section with informative and useful videos, fact sheets, brochures, infographics, guides/toolkits, and more.
Download the app at samhsa.gov/talk-they-hear-you/mobile-application
May Mental Health Awareness Month
Islanders Committed students at Middletown High School and Gaudet Middle School designed and coordinated May Mental Health Week activities including:
Distributing green ribbons to support mental health awareness
Handing out Change Direction cards which send a message that it’s ok to reach out for help and signs that may mean they or a friend is experiencing a mental health issue. Cards were also sent home digitally to students and parents.
Facilitated an interactive activity with their peers. Students were invited to fill out post-it notes in response to prompts such as What causes you stress?; What do you do to relieve stress? And what can we do to improve the climate at Gaudet?
Gaudet Islanders Committed Community Dodgeball Tournament
Thank You to all who volunteered and participated to make the tournament such a big success!
Please read our recent Letters to the Editor discussing some of the major concerns around increased access to marijuana for youth, a reduction in youth “perception of harm,” the increased potency of today’s marijuana and forms of consumption available such as vaping and edibles.
Popularity of Vaping Higher THC Marijuana Products Rising Among Youth by Christine Nolan.
The Threat to Our Kids' Health and Safety from Marijuana Edibles by Anne Schultz.
For more information and resources on the impact of marijuana legalization at https://learnaboutsam.org
Middletown Family Day 2022 was a huge success. Thanks to all who attended and helped make it a memorable day!
Thanks to all who participated in Middletown Wellness Month 2022 to make it such a fantastic success for the community.
We hope Middletown families found these activities helpful on a path to healthy living!
The Middletown Prevention Coalition
Please support the work of the Middletown Prevention Coalition (MPC)! We welcome your contribution as an investment in the health and wellness of our youth!
Your donation will go to programs and initiatives that will directly impact the mental health and well-being of our Middletown youth.
Donate
Donate to the Middletown Prevention Coalition online.
Vision
To create a safe, healthy, and drug-free Middletown.
Mission
To mobilize and empower the Middletown community through action, education, support, and collaboration to reduce risky behaviors and motivate youth and adults to safe and healthy lifestyles.
MPC Goals
To decrease youth substance use and reduce access to substances while promoting health and wellness in the community and enhancing healthy choices.
To build the capacity of the coalition and the community to reduce youth substance use and create a safe, healthy, and drug-free Middletown where our youth can thrive and achieve their greatest potential.
Definition of "Prevention"
The role of prevention is to create healthy communities in which people have a "quality of life" such as healthy environments at work and at school; supportive communities and neighborhoods; connections with family/friends and drug and crime-free communities.
Prevention focusing on risk and protective factors is based on a simple premise: to prevent a problem, we need to identify factors that increase the risk of the problem developing. We then need to find ways that enhance protective or resiliency factors.
- Risk and Protective Factors, Dr. Hawkins and Catalano, University of Washington
Risk Factors & Protective Factors
Risk factors and protective factors are the conditions in the community, family, school, and individual's environments that are known to increase or decrease the likelihood that a young person will engage in one or more problem behaviors, such as substance abuse, bullying, or dropping out of school.
Why do we look at these? The more risk factors youth face, the more likely the child is to have problems as an adult. Enhancing protective factors minimizes the problem behaviors. The MPC looks at our community through this lens so we can select activities, strategies, and programs individualized to our Middletown needs.
MPC Membership
The MPC is a community-based organization comprised of individuals representing various public and private sectors of the Middletown community. These sectors include:
- Business
- Civic or volunteer organizations
- Health care
- Law enforcement
- Media
- Organizations involved in reducing substance abuse
- Parents
- Religious or fraternal organizations
- School
- State, local governmental agency
- Youth
- Youth-serving organizations
- Other interested citizens
The "best practices" literature for community change states that all major sectors of a community need to be around the table in order to impact the norms around substance use and create true community change. Are you interested in creating a Middletown where our youth can thrive? Email MPC.
Never doubt a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.- Margaret Mead
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Lori Verderosa
DirectorPhone: 401-743-3503
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Middletown Prevention Coalition