Planet Youth: Connection, community are keys to problematic drug and alcohol use prevention

The “just say no” approach to problematic drug and alcohol use prevention has delivered mixed results over the last 40 years or so. While it’s been successful for some, the abstinence model has been criticized for not addressing some of the root causes of problematic substance use, namely lack of community and connection.

So, when the chance arose in 2022 for our Woodstock-area schools to participate in a five-year pilot project to test the “Icelandic Prevention Model” of problematic drug and alcohol use prevention—a model that emphasizes community and interpersonal connection to counter addictive behaviours—the district seized the opportunity.

The pilot project, introduced to provincial officials by the Iceland-based Planet Youth organization during their 2020 visit to the island nation, is happening at locations in Woodstock—at Woodstock High School, Townsview School, and Meduxnekeag Consolidated School—as well as in Saint John, Kent County, and the Acadian Peninsula.

“Planet Youth folks from Iceland came to New Brunswick to present to all kinds of government folks,” said Horizon Health Community Developer Emily Shapiro, who is also co-lead for the Planet Youth pilot project in Woodstock. “A few key folks in the province went, ‘yes, we want to bring this here.’ A lot of the other folks in the room also were like, ‘oh my gosh, this is a different way of doing drug and alcohol prevention.’ And they loved it.”

Both the Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer at the time were strong proponents of the project, Shapiro said. So, the province chose community developers with both Horizon Health and Vitalité Health to act as project liaisons between provincial government and the school districts since “we were already working in population health, social determinants of health, and things that affect our long-term health outcomes.”

A community effort

A biennial survey of student needs helped shape the Planet Youth team’s student engagement activities. After the survey results came in, they were assessed by a local action team comprised of community stakeholders like local government and education officials, law enforcement officials, and various local non-profits such as Valley Family Resource Center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Little Woodstock First Nation. And of course, one of the most important groups of assessors were the parents.

“We had an engagement session masquerading as a family meal and some babysitting where everyone ate tacos,” Shapiro said. “It was a big hit. The little ones went up and played with our student volunteers, and the parents stayed downstairs, and we asked them some questions based on what we saw in the survey: So, what kind of supports do parents need? What are some of your biggest concerns about being a parent in this community? What are some things that you’d like to see in terms of activities?”

Students take the lead

Ainsley McGuinness, a Grade 12 student at Woodstock High School, is president of the school’s Planet Youth student club.

“It’s great, when parents and leaders in the community can come together and talk about drug and alcohol prevention,” said McGuinness. “But this generation want to have an impact and do something about it.”

So, acting on information from the biennial survey of student needs, she and her team took the initiative in engaging students in the school community. They’ve done quite a few things to date, including creating a “good news” board at the school.

“Any general good news that we feel should be celebrated—or students want to celebrate—we put on the good news board so that other students can share that success and create a supportive environment around the school,” she said.

Another initiative is the bi-weekly Wellness Wednesday posts on the school’s Thunder Instagram page, which “are Instagram posts around mental health and creating positive spaces for students.”

“One of our themes was sleep,” McGuinness said. “It was a post talking about how important sleep is and what you can do to get more sleep. And that shows students that they’re cared for and that people think that they’re important.”

McGuinness also works with her Woodstock High colleague, Grade 10 student Gracelyn Grant, to promote social collaboration between the high school community and the communities of the area’s two elementary-middle schools, Townsview School and Meduxnekeag Consolidated School.

Grant is the Planet Youth student club mentorship coordinator.

“I kind of bridge the two elementary-middle schools before they get to high school, so there are no kind of rivalries [when they get to high school],” she said. She does this by having students from both of the elementary-middle schools collaborate on art projects and sporting activities.

Grant and McGuinness also worked on activities that brought elementary, middle, and high school students together, along with their families. The two planned a family game night last April for families in the community. The event, which took place at NBCC Woodstock drew 148 students and their families.

“They were having so much fun just playing, rolling these giant dice or shooting basketballs. And you can just feel the connection. You can feel the love and the support in the room,” said Grant. “We’re giving them opportunities to do things other than drinking and alcohol. So that’s not even an option. That’s not even in the back of their mind.”

“They were having so much fun just playing, rolling these giant dice or shooting basketballs. And you can just feel the connection. You can feel the love and the support in the room”

Gracelyn Grant, Planet Youth student club mentorship coordinator

And that’s the point of the “Icelandic Prevention Model” that Planet Youth promotes: to increase activities in the community for and by youth that are meant to engage them and steer them away from substance abuse. “We offer them other things to do instead,” said Grant.

Other Planet Youth activities and initiatives have included sponsoring a Family Day celebration on that February provincial holiday and issuing micro-mini grants to both student groups, and to local organizations that work with youth.

“The idea is to put some money into the hands of students to give them an opportunity to take ownership,” Shapiro said. “We currently have three applications in and some of them are really fabulous ideas.”

One of those ideas is a plan to purchase more books for the library that McGuinness says students want to read. Books where “you can see a lot of LGBTQ representation, representation of the sexes, representation of different races,” she said. “It’s very important that students can fit in with the characters and see themselves painted in a good light, through books and through literature.”

And last spring and summer, Planet Youth offered $5,000 in $1,000 grants to “people and groups that wanted to augment a leisure activity that’s already happening, but increase accessibility and equity, allowing more people to participate,” said Shapiro.

Some of that money went to a rowing club and a beach volleyball club. “The students who are doing competitive sports, that’s great for them. But we need lots of other things to get the rest of the student body involved.”

To provide mentorship and instruction to future student leaders, the Planet Youth student club last year created and implemented a one-credit course at the high school called Develop and Lead 110. The student-led course is overseen by a member of staff.

“They’re just natural leaders, and our students look up to them so much,” said JoAnne Boone, community coordinator for Townsview and Meduxnekeag Consolidated schools. “It makes it so much more fun because the adults are stepping back, and high school students are running it. We’re just really supporting them.”

Said Shapiro, “They’re responsible young adults, they’re doing a fabulous job, and we trust them to do it.”

The New Brunswick Planet Youth pilot project runs until 2027.

“They’re just natural leaders, and our students look up to them so much… It makes it so much more fun because the adults are stepping back, and high school students are running it. We’re just really supporting them.”

JoAnne Boone, community coordinator for Townsview and Meduxnekeag Consolidated schools

Published February 24, 2025

Last modified February 25, 2025, 4:18 pm