PROGRAM ATTEMPTS TO CURB SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN LOCAL YOUTH

The trend of substance abuse following the trickle-down effect to younger
and younger children sparked an initiative in local groups to bring a solid
prevention program to Lafayette County.

The new program, the Lafayette Partnership for Prevention, was designed
with the help of a government grant in an attempt to curb use among children.

The University of Mississippi, Lafayette County Schools and Communicare are
using a $9 million government grant to implement a program called
LifeSkills into Lafayette County Middle School. The target age is between
the ages of 12 and 17.

"The long-range goal is to equip these children with skills to resist media
and peer pressure," Director of the prevention program Becky Hiter said.
"We want to give them alternatives to drugs so they can grow up to be
happy, healthy, successful adults."

People will meet with the kids 15 times, once a week for 50 minutes, and
will lead discussions, have role-playing games and workbook activities.

"This will be an informed setting that will lead to discussion," Hiter
said. "The program will develop social skills that will assist the children
with their self image, decision-making, coping with anger and the myth of
drugs."

Will Sharp, Communicare's Preventions Coordinator and author of the grant,
said he thinks this program has a broad basis that helps children in a
variety of areas.

"There are many programs geared towards cognitive skills development, but
LifeSkills has a good breadth over what it covers," Sharp said. "LifeSkills
targets a number of domains-the peer, school, parental and interpersonal
domains."

The LifeSkills program, which has been implemented around the state in
Jackson, Hattiesburg and in the Delta, has been shown in studies to
decrease substance abuse within the targeted age groups 87 percent.

"Substance abuse statistics for the state of Mississippi are bad," Sharp
said. "It is a major problem that we need to address."

The program will be implemented starting this semester in the Lafayette
County Middle School. Though the program is designed to cover an entire
school year, it will be a one-semester program this spring.

"Ideally the programs should last two semesters," Hiter said.
"Unfortunately, due to the timing of the grant, we were unable to start at
the beginning of this year. This should have no negative affect on the
results of the program."

Further goals of the Lafayette Partnership for Prevention point to
broadening the curriculum to more schools across the county.

"This is just a start," Sharp said. "Our goals are to start implementing
this or programs like it throughout the county. We want to secure future
funding to ensure programs of this type continue. Many times programs are
short-lived, but we have a commitment to this region and want to have a
long-term effect."