Barbour County
F.R.E.E.
Friends. Respecting. Each other. Everyday
What is F.R.E.E. ?
F.R.E.E. is a group of students that are willing to make a difference in their community. These teens will not be afraid to go out into the community and let everybody know that they are drug, alcohol, and tobacco FREE and have fun at the same time.
What is our message?
The message that F.R.E.E. delivers is that drugs, alcohol and tobacco are very harmful, addictive substances. The F.R.E.E. team uses peer to peer teaching which means that the group is youth lead and designed to reach youth of the same age. This F.R.E.E. team will consist of middle school ages, typically 11-13.
First major project: Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is the national week of celebration for drug and alcohol
prevention and is held the last week in October. It is during this week
that the F.R.E.E. team makes an appearance at each school in the county
to give a presentation you won’t forget. During the previous celebration
the F.R.E.E. team rocked the schools with an upbeat and very energetic
performance. However, the performance was jam packed with a prevention
message that would never be forgotten.
Community Service:
Each month there will be one community service project scheduled for the team to complete.
General Meeting Outline:
15-20min. Snack
30-45min. Homework help
25-30 min. Teambuilding activity
45-50min. Prevention activity
15-20min. Clean-up
For more information contact the Barbour County Family Resource Network at 304-457-2691 or visit our Myspace:
Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco
Facts and Statistics!!
Barbour County Statistics
More than 1 out of 4 youth admit they use alcohol at least once a month.
More than 1 out of 5 youth admit to using any illicit drug at least once a month.
Nearly 1 out of 5 youth admit to using marijuana at least once a month
More than 1 out of 4 women admitted to using tobacco during pregnancy.
This stat is from the National and WV Vital Statistics Annual Reports.
Nearly 1 out of 3 youth admit to using tobacco at least once a month.
More than 1 out of 4 youth admit to smoking cigarettes at least once a month.
National Statistics
Alcohol:
7 out of 10 youth surveyed said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.
Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year which is enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.
Marijuana:
There have been over 7,000 published scientific and medical studies documenting the damage that marijuana poses. Not one study has shown marijuana to be safe.
The risk of using cocaine is estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it.
Inhalant:
1 out of 4 inhalant abusers who died of Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome had no history of previous inhalant abuse. In other words, they were first-time users.