News : Area students attend CADCA\'s National Youth Leadership Institute

These Benton County high school students attended the CADCA event earlier this month.

Benton County area students from the Belle Plaine, Benton, and Vinton-Shellsburg High Schools participated in CADCA's National Youth Leadership Institute in Indianapolis from August 2nd-6th.

Sponsored by the Benton County Above the Influence Coalition, seven students and three adults dedicated to making a positive change within their communities spent the week among other youth and advisors from across the country and the world learning how to construct and implement a Strategic Prevention Framework and action plan.

Benton County students chose to focus their SPF model on underage and binge drinking within the county, and began by drawing a map and highlighting problem areas in each community. From there, they wrote a problem statement, risk factors, local conditions, and interventions or actionable steps for each local condition.

Amid the conference training, students also had down time to explore the city, tour Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts), swim in the hotel pool, network with other students, and even participate in planned nightly activities such as game night, a healthy walk/run, and a youth talent show.

Upon returning, the students hope to implement their SPF model and collaborate between districts and with the BCATI Coalition to increase law enforcement presence in the smaller communities in Benton County, establish a uniform code of conduct between the three school districts in the county and ensure equal enforcement, provide alternatives and educate parents on the dangers of supplying alcohol at events to minors, and decrease accessibility in homes and at local stores via education, compliance checks, and providing hardware to lock up alcohol.

With these ideas in hand and the tools gained from attending NYLI, the youth hope the community and their schools with join them in the fight against underage and binge drinking, and ask that you live by the famous words, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi