BY STAND UP 4 TEENS STUDENTS

Stand Up 4 Teens (SU4T) is a youth- led prevention club at Stevenson High School, focused on changing community norms regarding under- age drinking and marijuana use, and prescription drug abuse. SU4T consists of ten high school students who partner with One Prevention Alliance collaborating to implement and facilitate community prevention activities in Skamania County.

Prevention is Stand Up 4 Teen’s over- arching goal as a group. We want our fellow students to feel empowered and supported to make smart choices and live happy, healthy lives. Our priority is, above all else, to help as many kids create a safe and positive environment not only for themselves, but for our community as a whole.

Like many Stevenson High School students, SU4T’s members participate in a number of school activities, including team sports and clubs. Ac- cording to Stevenson High School’s 2018 Healthy Youth Survey, 70% of 10th grade students reported participating in some type of after-school activity; this is 8% higher than the Washington State average of 62%.

Keeping busy with healthy activities makes it easier for students to make healthy choices in other parts of their lives, too. When SU4T’s members were asked why we don’t use illicit/ illegal substances, one student sim- ply said, “I don’t have time, I’m way to busy!”

Along those same lines, according to the 2018 Healthy Youth Survey, 97% of 10th grade students reported that participating in team sports was a positive influence in their lives.

With so many Skamania County youth participating in after school programs, it’s no wonder that 77%of students reported not using alcohol in the past 30 days, according to the 2018 survey. 75% of 10th graders believed it is wrong for youth to drink alcohol and risky to drink alcohol regularly.

Feedback from the same survey also revealed that 76% of 10th grade students reported having  an  adult  in their lives they could talk to. The more support available for young people in our community, the more opportunities they will have to make better choices, which can lead to less underage use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

SU4T plans to use our own experiences as students, along with these survey results, to help us inform the activities we plan as a club.