PC Coalition for Healthy Choices meets in Malta

Last Wednesday in Malta, about a dozen people joined Carol Smith and Sonia Young in the basement of the Phillips County Coalition for Healthy Choices building to discuss the organization’s newest grant and to get an update on the what the group has been up to over the past few months.

The Partners for Success Grant, which provides $281,150 over the next five years, allows the Coalition for Healthy Choices to focus on underage drinking, drinking and driving -- target people ages 12-to-20 – and prescription drug abuse and misuse in people ages 12-to-25.

Some of the statistical highlights of the 2014 Montana Prevention Needs Assessment Survey in Phillips County included binge drinking by minors, drinking and driving by minors and lifetime use.

“In most of those categories, you will find that we are higher than the state average,” said Smith. “Even though we have been addressing this for 12-years, and our figures have come down some, we still qualify to get this grant.”

The survey was conducted in the spring of 2014 with area school’s students in grades 8, 10 and 12 as well as a voluntary option for students in grades 7,9 and 11 to participate as well.. The survey was designed to assess adolescent substance abuse, anti-social behavior and the risk and protective factors that predict these adolescent problems and behaviors. The total number of students who participated in the 2014 survey in Phillips County was 96.

Of the pages of statistics provided in the survey, Smith pointed out that eighth grade students in Phillips County at the time of the survey states that in their lifetime, 41.7-percent of them have had more than a few sips of alcohol and tenth grade students who have more than a sip are 61.8-percent (the state averages are 27.8 and 52.1, respectively.)

The efforts to curb these behaviors in addressed in the survey, the Coalition of Healthy Choices – following guidelines presented by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention – uses six strategies which are the dissemination of information, prevention education, a community-based process, environmental approaches and offering alternative activities to county’s youth.

Young gave several examples of how the last of those approaches – alternative activities – have been used and have been successful in Phillips County lately.

“I hold weekly meetings at the high school and,” said Young. “We are the biggest high school extra circular club there is right now…we have over 30 members and just added two new ones.”

Young said the group meets in the Malta High School cafeteria during study hall as well as the Healthy Choices building once a month where the groups discusses and plans alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention activities.

“We also plan other activities that are fun for the students to do,” Young added. “They already know a lot of stuff about alcohol, drug and tobacco, but what you want to do is give the students the reigns and let them decide what they would also like to do.”

Young said that a recent event planned by the students was a “lock-in” over the New Year holiday following the Snowball Dance. She said the drug free event was attended by at least 44 students.

“They had a good time,” she said. “They played Xbox, did karaoke, watched movies, had food, played games and just had fun.”

Last year, Young took a group of students to Capitol Hill in Helena to meet with local representatives and to see how laws are created. She said while there, the students were able to talk with Mike Lange, of Malta and the HD 33 State Representative, and Lang made an admission to the youths.

“He said, ‘I have to be honest with you guys, I do chew tobacco’,” Young recalled. “He then pledged to quit using tobacco. They educated him on some things and he educated them on the legislative procedures so it was a win-win situation.”

To obtain a copy of the entire 2014 Montana Prevention Needs Assessment Survey for Phillips County, people are encourage to contact Smith at her office phone, 654-2378, on her cell at 390-4032 or through email at [email protected].