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For the last 12 years, the Bonneville Youth Development Council (BYDC) in Idaho Falls, ID, has coordinated an annual conference for 8e<\/sup> to 12e<\/sup> graders under the creative banner, Teens Rising Above Peer Pressure Every Day – Students Oppose Booze Everyone\u2019s Rewarded (T.R.A.P.P.E.D.\u00a0 S.O.B.E.R.)<\/em>. This year\u2019s conclave took place from November 2-5, with 90 youths participating from all over Bonneville County \u2013 the coalition\u2019s largest turnout ever!<\/p>\n Bonneville County is located in southeast Idaho, part of the Upper Snake River Valley, and borders with Wyoming on the east. Idaho Falls, originally called Eagle Rock, is the county seat.\u00a0 Other incorporated cities include Ammon, Iona, Irwin, Swan Valley, and Ucon. The county has a population of 104,000, with 58,000 residing in Idaho Falls. There are four junior highs, five high schools, and two alternative schools.<\/p>\n "T.R.A.P.P.E.D.\u00a0 S.O.B.E.R. <\/em>provides a forum for the discussion of positive, alternative choices for the youth in our county,\u201d explains Alisha Passey, Coordinator of the Bonneville Youth Development Council. \u201cThe conference is also a remarkable team-building effort, which enables us to put together a core group of youth leaders who we will work with over the next year to prevent substance abuse in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n This year\u2019s conference began after school on Wednesday, November 2, and continued all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with all activities building on each other. The first day and a half of the conference focused on team building skills and substance abuse topics. It culminated with a town hall meeting on Saturday night with their peers, adult advisors, and family and friends where participants shared what they had learned.<\/p>\n For the first time in the history of the conference, youth and adult advisors were divided into five impact teams based on BYDC\u2019s logic models and priorities. The topics discussed were youth marijuana use, youth prescription drug abuse, youth vaping, and underage drinking. The social and service impact team was added to increase community bonding and provided opportunities for teenagers to learn how to pay it forward. Each participant ranked the topic he or she felt most passionate about and together they looked at the problem and developed strategies by examining the following:<\/p>\n While everyone was briefed on all the topics, each team spent time focusing on their individual area of interest; developed seven comprehensive action strategies; and reported back to the full convention body and guests at the town hall.<\/p>\n \u201cThis summer we took a group of youths to Mid-Year, and they went through Key Essentials Training,\u201d Passey further explained. \u201cThe kids really caught fire and were motivated to explore new ways to develop team-building skills and to educate their peers and the community about substance misuse using logic models, data analysis, and sustainability plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the things the impact teams want to address over the coming year include:<\/p>\n Remarkably, the costs of the conference and all the expenses including the room and board for the youth participants were subsidized by a combination of resources. They included funds from the Substance Abuse Block Grant Prevention Services, Bonneville County, and coalition fundraising efforts. \u00a0This extra support ensured that the 90 young people were able to attend the conference at no personal cost.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the last 12 years, the Bonneville Youth Development Council (BYDC) in Idaho Falls, ID, has coordinated an annual conference<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13832,"template":"","resource_type":[281],"drug_specific_issues":[],"action_to_do":[],"class_list":["post-17409","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-coalitions-online"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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