ANTI-DRUG CHALK TALK AIMED AT LOCAL PARENTS

Under the streetlights, the teenagers left their mark on the pavement.
The message: Parents need to intervene to keep their children away
from drugs.

We Talk Fearlessly (WTF) met at 10 p.m. Wednesday in the Safeway
parking lot armed with pizza and sidewalk chalk to offer empowerment
tips for parents through street art.

"We're doing this to get the message across and let people know that
you have a voice," said 17 year-old Stefanie Adams. "We want people to
know that drugs are stupid and there are so many things you could be
doing that are better."

They transcribed 50 tips that were handed down by the Search
Institute, an American, faith-based think tank researching attitudes
of youth.

Roberta Lappage is a youth advisor for Youth Action on Drugs, a Health
Canada-funded organization seeking to de-normalize illicit drug use
through peer-to-peer mentoring. She formerly led the anti-tobacco
lobbyist organization Youth Action Alliance until its provincial
funding was cut last year. Lappage said the group intends to conduct a
baseline assessment survey in the fall to determine attitudes among
youth toward their community and investigate the information and myths
young people hold on illicit drugs.

"We're just getting started," she said, energetically. "They're
changing the youth engagement strategy to be an overall complete
(program) of wellness, nutrition, physical activity. It's more about
holistic wellness."