New Anti-Drug Teen Task Force Looking For Members

With the 30 year anniversary coming up for the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force, the group is setting its sights on gathering more teen involvement to bolster a newly forming sub-committee of their anti-drug task force.

Co-Chair of the new task force, Marilyn Belmonte, who has been involved in the anti-substance movement in Burlington since 2005, details the Task Force's new focus.

“We are hoping to recruit young people to join and start a youth group within the task force, a sub-committee of the task force,” explained Belmonte. “[The teens] will have some independence and their own meetings and come up with their own projects, however, all ideas will be run through the initial task force composed of myself, other board members and parents.”

Belmonte explained that the Task Force has never had, “enough initiative,” to bring teens into the anti-drug equation. Belmonte and the task force hope to change all this with the new sub-committee.

“The mission of the task force is to reduce substance abuse overall, targeting such threats as underage drinking, drug experimentation, things like that. So, our mission is focused on the youth and making healthy choices. It's not adult-oriented in that sense,” stated Belmonte.

Belmonte continued: “it just makes sense to try and get youth involved in that as much as possible. Just the act of youth having some involvement, the planning and strategy; it will have a very positive effect on those students and maybe our message will reach more students if teens are part of the design team.”

Belmonte also mentioned that there is a disconnect between adults and teens due to generational gaps. Belmonte said, “we like to think as adults that we are still in touch, but as adults we can really be out-dated to these young people, so we do whatever we can to grasp young peoples' attention.”

In a message to parents interested in the group and what benefits this could have for their children, Belmonte said, “for parents out there who might be thinking this a good idea for my kid, you should encourage your child to get involved […] It will also look great on college applications [...] its a wonderful community oriented group.”

Belmonte added that her and the other group members will be contacting PTO's, attending students fairs, creating email blast campaigns, reaching out to media outlets, and will try to reach kids through parents and schools to garner new members. However, the Task Force has always relied on volunteers from the community to help spread the word. Reaching teens through adult-involvement is key for the new anti-drug task force teen sub-committee to take wing.

If you or your child is interested in getting involved in the new teen anti-substance movement, the next meeting regarding the issue will be held Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. out of the  at 61 Center Street. The meeting will take place on the second floor. Parents and their children are encouraged to come together to learn more about the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force and the newly emerging task force.

Editor's note: In an original version of the this story the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force was mistakenly called "Burlington's Drug Abuse Recognition and Prevention (DARP)."