Nov. 7--Across Berkshire County, efforts to curb underage drinking and substance abuse are gearing to become more visible in the community.

"We want kids to be healthy," said Alan Bashevkin, executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.

This week, the Mount Greylock Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol held its first event in a four-part lecture series called "Encouraging Life Above the Influence."

This Sunday, a "Sticker Shock" campaign will be launched in Adams and Williamstown. On Wednesday, it will take place in Lanesborough. In a "Sticker Shock" campaign, adults and student visit participating area package stores and alcohol vendors and place stickers on packages of beer and alcohol to remind adults it's illegal to buy booze for minors. The Pittsfield Prevention Partnership will also soon be launching a similar campaign.

On Dec. 1, the South Berkshire Youth Coalition will hold a public forum to present findings and statistics from the 2009 Prevention Needs Assessment Survey in relation to South County youths.

"We'll be unveiling a two-year action plan in response to this, and we'll be looking for feedback from the community," said Kathleen Jackson, director of the Youth Coalition.

The survey, which was administered to nearly every eighth-, 10th- and 12-grader in Berkshire County in June, details both startling and positive data on youth alcohol and drug use, and other risky behaviors. It also

details student-identified interventions that work and don't work.

In South County, the 12th-grade students who report they had consumed more than five drinks in one sitting, within two weeks at the time of the survey, was 43 percent. The national average is 26 percent.

In North County, 32 percent of 12th-graders reported that they drank alcohol provided by an adult family member or friend within the past year.

"The survey isn't 100 percent accurate. No survey is. But it caught a lot of trends that people were talking about," said Jackson.

This fall, the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, South Berkshire Youth Coalition and Pittsfield Prevention Partnership have been analyzing and sharing their region-specific data from the survey with various stakeholders like schools and other youth service groups.

"My goal is just to get people talking about it," said Jenna Dickinson, who coordinates the Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.

Karen Cole, the new coordinator of the Pittsfield Prevention Partnership, said the group has been trying to get more parents involved in the process of prevention by offering an online program with The Counseling Center in the Berkshires called Parenting Wisely. The partnership also teamed up with Berkshire Children and Families this summer to offer a second program, Guiding Good Choices.

Overall, agencies say they're looking to work with youths, adults and organizations to develop cooperative solutions to the county's drug and alcohol problems.

"Our initiative is community based. If the approaches we're taking are not welcome, we're not going to take them," said Jackson.

Jackson said it's also important for communities to be aware that drug and alcohol abuse is not just a youth issue.

"We don't live in a community where youths are using and adults aren't," she said. "The theory is that people are going to do what is perceived as socially acceptable. The idea is to change the social norms on substance and alcohol abuse."

Jenn Smith can be reached at:

jsmith@berkshireeagle.com,

or (413) 496-6239.

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