You have a recipe for disaster if you take one part alcohol, one part hormones then mix in equal parts male and female teenagers.
Grade 9 students from R.F. Staples received the ingredients for what to do when they are out having fun after they attended a day-long PARTY Program workshop at the Westlock Legion on Feb. 20.
The workshop gave youth the tools to make better choices, said Victim Services chairperson Marilyn Hess.
“We’re not telling them not to drink, we know they’re going to do it anyways, we’re just telling them how to make good choices when they’re doing some risky stuff,” she said.
The Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) Program is a fast-paced “tell it like it is” injury prevention program, educating teenagers about the outcomes of making poor choices.
It is offered annually to Grade 9 students in the area, and teaches young people how to prevent alcohol and risk-related problems.
The day featured guest lectures from the RCMP, fire department, mental health and an injury survivor. Hess said the local schools are 100 per cent behind the program and has even received positive feedback from both students and teachers. “It taught me about the importance of things that appear small in our everyday lives,” said Lucas Crockett, “like seatbelts and what we can do to help during medical emergencies.”
Crockett continued explaining that he found the supplied information “very helpful” and educational.
“When it started, it was about drinking and driving but now we do everything,” the program’s Jamie Greer explained, indicating current topics being addressed range from drinking and driving to safe sex, date rape, unwanted pregnancies and courtwork debates.
“I don’t want the kids to hear ‘don’t do this’ because obviously if you tell teenagers not to do something, they’re going to do it to test the waters,” she added. “I want to teach them to look at their choices before they make them.
“I’ve always said if your parents love you, they’re going to come get you. They might be mad and you might be grounded, but they’re going to be glad that you’re in bed the next day and they get to say hello to you — instead of the RCMP or Victim Services.”
According to the Party Program website, the first Party Program began at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto in 1986. A similar program began in Calgary in 1988 called the H.E.A.R.T Program (Hospital Emergencies Against Risk Related Trauma).
Calgary joined the Party network in 1989 and that network has grown to include 73 programs across Canada, seven in America, three in Australia, one in Japan and one in Brazil. Since starting the Calgary program in 1988, the Party Program has reached more than 172,000 teens. During 1992, the PARTY Program was introduced to students in the Westlock area. This year the program has visited students in Jarvie, Clyde and Westlock.
For some students it was a series of visuals and personal tragedies that really hit home.
“Looking at all the pictures (of accidents) made me quite sad, seeing that people are dying in just a few seconds because of making bad mistakes,” said 14-year-old Carly Pumbach. “I’ve had a few family members in accidents so seeing survivors talk (later today) will make me happy.”
The day concluded with a guest speaker Dean Krawic who talked about the realities of having a choice about a job accident, but making the wrong one. As a result, his right arm, left leg and half of his pelvis have been removed. “We address a lot of serious topics,” Greer said. “But we try to incorporate some fun stuff too, like the beer goggles and the injury survivor are really great.”
For more information, visit http://partyprogram.com/Default.aspx?cid=765&lang=1.
