***This survey will be administered on Friday, October 4th to 7th and 8th grade students. If you do not wish for your child to participate, please call the office at 933-5354 or email karen.ovitt@fnesu.org
The Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union is excited to participate in the Vermont Youth Project. This project works with the Icelandic Center for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA) to implement the Icelandic Model for Adolescent Substance Use Prevention. This model is one which draws on our student perceptions about where they live, and then for community members to draw on these ideas so that we can develop environments where substance abuse is reduced. If this sounds pretty simple, it is. In effect, we are saying that if we listen very closely to what our kids are telling us, we can use their feelings to create environments where substance abuse is reduced drastically. Rather than drawing on lengthy documents which can be biased by what we think, the beauty of the Icelandic Model is that it says for us, the adults, to listen to the true experts: our children.
In order to complete this study, we will give your child a survey. Questions on the survey include student perceptions of their school, community, and peers. Sometimes students have a hard time avoiding substance use because of factors that can be viewed as sensitive. Yet, in order for us to get to the very real issues facing our kids, we must ask a few questions that may be considered intrusive by some. These include questions about using cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs. Still, one reason why this model has been so successful, is that it dares to ask our children the very questions they deal with all the time. Instead of avoiding issues, this model says, in effect, that we must listen to our kids real closely and if we do, the answers will be revealed so that we can act on them.
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