Pubdate: Wed, 25 Apr 2001
Source: Daily Herald (IL)
Copyright: 2001 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107

PEER MESSAGES ON DRUGS WORTH A TRY IN ILLINOIS

If there were a foolproof way to keep young people away from alcohol, 
tobacco and other harmful drugs, everyone would be using those preventive 
measures, and it wouldn't be an issue anymore.

Obviously, that's not the case. Drug use among young people generally has 
declined in recent years, but sizable numbers of adolescents still try 
cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs. For some, the flirtation is brief and 
experimental only. For others, the initial sampling leads to steady use or 
even addiction.

Searching for more effective ways to inform and educate young people 
remains as important as ever.

The state of Illinois currently is working with a Chicago public-relations 
firm, Hill and Knowlton, on an initiative that tries something a little 
different: Peers trying to influence peers.

The campaign theme is "Be Real" and will feature the faces of young 
Illinois residents on billboards, in magazines and in movie theater 
advertising.

Considering the powerful role that peer influence plays in so many aspects 
of students' lives, there is a certain logic to this approach. Some 
observers warn that a mass-media effort, in and of itself, will not succeed.

That may well be, but the peer approach sounds sufficiently promising to 
warrant the proposed investment of several hundred thousand dollars.
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MAP posted-by: Beth