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"Prevention" refers to a
comprehensive effort to ensure a healthy community and healthy
individuals.
A community engages in prevention
when it works to:
In order for prevention to be
effective, multiple sectors of
the community must simultaneously
employ multiple, ongoing strategies in multiple settings…
That is… it’s not enough for parents
to model healthy choices, or
for schools to offer
evidence-based health classes, or
for police to enforce minimum
legal drinking age laws.
All sectors of the community have
a stake in the health of our youth, and everyone has a role to
play in preventing risk behaviors among a community's young
people.
Asset
#7: We feel
that adults in the community care about us.
Project Success
at Hellgate High School
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Asset
#2: We have meaningful talks with our parents/ guardians and can go to them for advice and support.
5th grade
students at Hellgate Elementary School
Linking Prevention Efforts Make Sense
Prevention efforts that are concerned with different risk issues (such as underage substance use or teen pregnancy or violence) have a lot in common because
most risk factors predict multiple risk behaviors, and most protective factors buffer individuals against more than one problem.
For example, a youth who is raised in a family with a lot of conflict is more likely to:
-
abuse substances
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engage in delinquent behaviors
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become violent
-
experience a teen pregnancy
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AND
to drop out of school.
Similarly, a youth raised by parents who communicate healthy beliefs and clear standards, is
less likely to engage in problem behaviors and
more likely to make healthy choices about nutrition, exercise, education, and community involvement. |
