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Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania
PARENTING RESOURCES
Parenting Drugs and Alcohol Internet Safety Violence
RESPONSIBLE PARENT NETWORK
History and Mission
The Youth Steering Committee's Mission is to involve the Upper St. Clair Community in providing positive direction and support to our youth and their families.
The Committee's objective is to create a drug-free community. The group works to link members of the community in a comprehensive effort to increase community awareness about the problems among our youth, especially problems associated with the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. The Youth Steering Committee strives to inform and educate the community on conditions underlying the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. The goal is to reduce the incidence of drug and alcohol abuse among the youth of the community. The Youth Steering Committee continually appraises current programs and develops new programs.
The Township Board of Commissioners and Board of School Directors organized the Youth Steering Committee in the late 1970's, well before governmental action on a national or state level. Congress recognized that schools and local organizations in communities throughout the nation have special responsibilities to work together to combat drug and alcohol abuse when it enacted the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Law of 1986.
Pennsylvania launched a statewide effort to bring the problem of drug and alcohol use and abuse before its communities. Pennsylvania enacted a state statute mandating drug education from kindergarten to twelfth grade, Act 211 of 1990. The state and federal statutes both recognize that they cannot legislate the effectiveness of a prevention education program, but is dependent upon local ownership in defining the nature and scope of community involvement. The statutes encourage local schools and governing bodies to form partnerships with parents and residents at large to promote and sustain healthy communities. Upper St. Clair already recognized the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and took steps toward self help.
The Youth Steering Committee defines the components of an effective and comprehensive Drug-Free School and Community Program as:
- recognizing, assessing and monitoring drug prevention needs and recognizing community resources
- setting, implementing and enforcing policy
- developing and implementing drug education and prevention programs
- developing and implementing drug prevention programs for students
- educating and training staff
- promoting parent involvement and providing parent education
- interacting and networking with community groups and agencies
The Committee commits its time and resources to developing the components of this Drug-Free Program, and to achieving the Committee's objectives. Each year, members of the Youth Steering Committee analyze the effectiveness of the program to measure successes and failures. This self-evaluation maintains the focus of the Committee on our Mission.
Statistics continue to identify parents as the most influential factor in a child's life. The Youth Steering Committee works to provide current parent education. Children model their actions after their parents. Therefore, the most important prevention tool within the community is to pattern the behavior of parents to avoid sending confusing "mixed messages" to children.
The Youth Steering Committee supports various education programs within the schools for teachers and students. It supports Natural Helpers, a peer counseling program, along with the high school. It provides educational forums and materials to parents and interested residents.