Riverhead Chosen To Launch New Phase of Statewide 'Talk2Prevent' Campaign, To Help Kids Stay Safe At Prom

RIVERHEAD, NY - Keeping teens safe during prom and graduation season is critical, and the efforts were launched close to home as a statewide effort kicked off Monday in Riverhead.

The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, or NYS OASAS, officially launched the latest phase of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo's Talk2Prevent initiative with a visit by NYS OASAS Commissioner Arlene Gonzales-Sanchez to Riverhead High School.

The program aims to spotlight the dangers of underage and especially, binge drinking, as well as drug use, in advance of the prom, to ensure that kids make the right choices.

The initiative features a public service announcement that urges parents to have potentially life-saving discussions with their children — and to speak, in advance, about code words or exit plans to help kids extricate themselves safely from dangerous situations.

Gonzales-Sanchez was joined by Felicia Scocozza, executive director of Riverhead Community Awareness Program, Andrew J. Mitchell, president and CEO of Peconic Bay Medical Center, Riverhead Town Councilman John Dunleavy, Riverhead School Superintendent Nancy Carney, Riverhead High School Principal Charles Regan, and Riverhead Town Police Officer Dennis Cavanagh.

“Graduation and prom are major milestones for students and their families, and they should be happy occasions,” said González-Sánchez, who traveled from Albany to Riverhead High School to launch the statewide campaign.

“These celebrations can have lethal consequences if they involve alcohol or drugs. This campaign urges parents and guardians to have open, regular discussions in advance of these milestone events, so that our young people know just how dangerous these substances can be and they can do their part to keep themselves and their friends safe during this time of year.”

The new Talk2Prevent Radio PSA will also play on Spanish radio stations. The campaign also includes coffee sleeves that remind parents and adults to talk with teens about underage drinking and substance use; placemats and posters will also be used with slogans such as, “The way you talk to your child becomes their inner voice." The posters are available on the Talk2Prevent website for downloading and use in schools and communities.

Gonzales-Sanchez commended the community leaders who have come together to tackle the problem, and said, of programs such as CAP, "You're making a difference."

After Gonzales-Sanchez welcomed Riverhead's Class of 2016, students responded with a loud cheer. "You've worked very hard senior year," she said. "And now you're looking forward to the next chapter in your lives."

She added that while prom season and graduation are exciting times, "Celebrations involving alcohol and drugs can turn the happiest moments into tragic moments, in a flash."

She offered some sobering statistics: 4,350 young people under the age of 21 die each year in alcohol related crashes. Alcohol is also related to homicides, injuries, date rape, assault and other serious consequences, she said.

"The good news is you have the power to choose how you want your life to be," she said. An alcohol and substance free lifestyle can literally add years to a teen's life, Gonzales-Sanchez said.

Teens, she added, "can't do it alone."

To that end, the new program calls upon adults, including parents, teachers, family members to "have those conversations. Talk about addiction with teens. These conversations must happen. Lives are at stake."

Gonzalez-Sanchez also discussed parents finding a secret code or word that can be texted by a teen to let adults know they are in a risky situation.

She commended Riverhead High School, in years' past, for advocating for safe proms by sending kids on buses to the after party, which included red carpets and goodie bags, all in an effort to protect teens. This year, the celebration takes place in Riverhead, she said.

To the teens, she said, "You are trend setters. You can lead by example."

Riverhead, Gonzalez-Sanchez said, will be held up as a role model for the new program statewide.

Parents, she reminded, need to show that fun can be had without drinking or drugs.

Scocozza, who began with CAP in 1999, said she'd seen many of the teens in the room grow up. "Think about the decisions you make. They may affect your for a long time," she said.

She then introduced CAP peer leaders and graduating seniors Samantha Dunn and Stephanie Ambrosio, who discussed first learning about CAP at Pulaski and later, teaching fifth and sixth graders about prevention.

Both said that to expect no drinking in today's world is "unrealistic," but the goal was to seek precautions and harm reduction.

Students, they said, should not drive drunk, and should not get into a car with a drunk driver; they should use designated drivers. They also said binge drinking accounts for 90 percent of binge drinking.

"Don't let alcohol and drugs ruin your chances for fulfilling your dreams," Dunn said.

Riverhead Police Officer Dennis Cavanagh told kids to use common sense. "You know the rules," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, in many of the drunk driving accidents he's seen, the drunk driver is unhurt, while the passenger, who may not have been drinking, is badly hurt or worse.

He urged teens to never get in the car with someone who has been drinking or, if they find themselves in such a situation, to call their parents or dial 911 so an officer can come and stop the drunk driver before tragedy.

Police, he said, "are here to help. When you talk about your prom in future years, everyone talks about what a great time they had. Let's not make this the one where someone dies. Dial 911. We'll get you home."

The Talk2Prevent website also includes 10 examples of effective pre-prom and graduation prevention strategies that local schools and communities have used to help keep young people alcohol- and drug-free.

On the website, prevention providers and schools around the state share creative and unique drug and alcohol prevention strategies that can be replicated at other schools and in other communities.

Riverhead High School’s pre-prom activities, including busing students to the prom and hosting a red carpet picture taking event, are held up statewide as great examples of community involvement in keeping kids safe.

The Talk2Prevent campaign aims to help to reverse the following statistics:

• 75 percent of high school seniors in New York State have used alcohol. (OASAS Youth Development Survey 2014-15 Report)
• 24 percent of high school juniors and seniors engaged in binge drinking during the past 2 weeks (OASAS Youth Development Survey 2014-15 Report)
• One in 10 teens say they have driven under the influence of alcohol during the summer. (Liberty Mutual/SADD, 2013)
• 22 percent of 7th - 12th graders have smoked marijuana. (OASAS Youth Development Survey 2014-15 Report)
• 5 percent of students in grades 7th - 12th have used a prescription pain reliever non-medically. (OASAS Youth Development Survey 2014-15 Report)