Schools

Pelham Youth Organization Intervenes Early to Keep Teens Clean

For 16 years, the PACT Coalition has motivated high schoolers to stay sober, and it's now working to do the same with local eighth graders, before the peer pressures settle in

Because stressful transitions have proven to trigger alcohol and drug use among adolescents, a local prevention coalition is now targeting eighth graders before they hit high school.

During its sixteen years in Pelham, the PACT Coalition’s main mission has remained unchanged. It aims to keep kids clean by offering alternatives to house parties and by educating parents on how to encourage sober living. While participation has steadily grown, organizers realized they could preempt the peer pressures of high school by getting eighth graders involved too.

“Transitions are a very critical time—going from eighth to ninth grade, twelfth to college,” remarked Alice DeNormandie, PACT’s director. “An organization like PACT helps with those transitions.”

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Up until this year, only high schoolers participated in PACT’s initiative, a program it brought to Pelham with the help of the Pelham Guidance Council. Members pledge to stay off drugs and alcohol and organize group activities that are open to their peers. The new eighth grade chapter has followed the same model, taking kids to do everything from climbing at the Rock Club to competing in bake offs at the . By inviting its high school members to chaperone, the younger kids also found relatable mentors, close in age.

, a PMHS senior who’s been involved in Youth 2 Youth since freshman year, is happy to extend guidance and support to the group’s youngest members.

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When an eighth grader asked De Leno if she feels “left out” because she doesn’t drink, she was quick to share an encouraging response. “’I’m friends with everyone. People will be friends with you if you don’t drink’,” she said.

While some teens often use alcohol to lower their inhibitions, De Leno explained how being a part of PACT has made her feel more open and at ease in social situations.

“I’m much more outgoing and open to all kinds of people,” De Leno said of how she’s changed since getting involved with PACT. “Our members are from all different social groups. I’m more open-minded because of it.”

But helping eighth graders foster relationships with older teens is just one of PACT’s prevention strategies. PACT also arranges programs for parents, to teach them how to communicate with their kids and intervene in an effective way.

“There are a lot of parents that think that after elementary school, their kids don’t want them involved [in their lives],” DeNormandie said. “In reality, those kids need those standards, need those boundaries to help guide them through the difficult stages of adolescence.”

To help impress this message to parents, PACT often calls in the experts, including Shaun Derik, a motivational speaker who the importance of empowering kids so that they don’t turn to drugs, at a March event.

While it remains to be seen how Youth 2 Youth’s first eighth grade class will fare once they start high school in the fall, DeNormandie is optimistic that the early intervention approach will make a considerable impact.

“The goal now is to continue working with middle school kids and hopefully they will become the nucleus of high school students,” she said.


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