Being part of a youth group not only helps you educate others, it provides you with great opportunities to learn a variety of skills and discover areas of interest such as:

Opportunities to master skills and content
Youth involved in substance abuse prevention coalitions learn the dynamics of substance abuse community-wide and different perspectives on potential solutions; they participate in a comprehensive planning process and determine priorities for action.

Opportunities to practice service for others
Young people are given options to take leadership roles and to serve the coalition and the community by representing the coalition at conferences and other events, and leading youth focus groups.

Opportunities to be an active, engaged learner
Youth coalition members get involved in implementing strategies (e.g., advocating to the school board, city council, or county planning commission), developing substance abuse awareness information for teens, writing letters to the editor of their newspaper, and planning youth awareness activities.

In the past few years, we have had several trainings for youth groups to enhance their skills in the following areas: advocacy, public speaking, holding town hall forums, releasing sensitive information, learning to focus on the positive behaviors of their peers and retailers in their community, knowledge of statistics about coming to school drunk or high, parental attitudes on providing alcohol to minors, law enforcement’s role in community problems, and violations of liquor laws. 

In February of 2009, 16 youth from our region were trained by Breathe NH to advocate at the state level for legislation that will affect the issues they care about, such as prescription drug abuse, the age requirement of youth who manage liquor establishments, the drinking age, and others.