Youth Alive Training Adapted from International Conference Staff Manual, Copyright 1995 Institute for Prevention of Addictions Berrien Springs, MI, USA General Conference Youth, Education, Family Ministries and Health Ministries Departments

Devotional 15-30 minutes Youth Alive conference is designed to empower youth with tools necessary to avoid risk behaviors They need power to prevent the use of dangerous drugs That mighty power is Jesus Christ Devotional 15-30 minutes You are about to conduct a Youth Alive conference that is designed to empower youth with tools necessary to avoid at-risk behaviors. The power needed to prevent the use of dangerous drugs is the same power that youth or adults can call upon to prevent sexual addictions, obsessive or compulsive behaviors or any other at-risk behaviors. That mighty POWER is in JESUS CHRIST and He is offering it to any one who chooses to call upon Him. Youth Alive Training

Alarming problems Caused by alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and compulsive behaviors More than ½ all violent crimes More than ½ all traffic fatalities 70% all drowning victims 2/3 suicides All linked to the use of alcohol Alarming problems The use of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and compulsive behaviors has created alarming problems around the world. For instance more than half of all violent crimes (murders, armed assaults, rapes), more than half of all traffic fatalities, seventy percent of all drowning’s, and at least two-thirds of all suicides all have devastating effects and are destructive events linked to the use of alcohol. Youth Alive Training

Many people die from drug & alcohol related problems 10 times as many deaths due to alcohol-related causes than from illicit drugs combined 20 times as many deaths related to smoking Many people die from drug & alcohol related problems More than ten times as many people die each year from alcohol-related causes than die from illicit drugs combined. More than twenty times as many deaths are related to smoking. Youth Alive Training

Damage to quality of life Alcohol and drug use estimated to cost: $800 per year for every man, woman, and child Regardless if they used them or not This amounts to $200 billion in the United States alone Damage to quality of life Alcohol and other drugs cost years of quality life and huge amounts of money. In the United States, Alcohol and drug use was estimated to cost each man, woman, and child eight-hundred dollars a year, Regardless of whether they used them or not. This amounts to two-hundred billion dollars in that country alone. Youth Alive Training

Seventh-day Adventists not exempt from these problems Study by Dr. Hopkins and Associates among SDA youth attending 69 academies throughout US and Canada (1994-1995) Unfortunately, Seventh-day Adventists are not exempt from these problems The study done by Dr. Gary Hopkins and his associates, among Seventh-day Adventist youth attending sixty-nine Seventh-day Adventist academies throughout the United States and Canada in 1994-1995, shows that: Youth Alive Training

Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates Substance used by youth Adventist youth attending SDA schools Non-Adventist youth attending public schools Alcohol 45.7% 81.7% Tobacco 31% 71.3% Marijuana 16% 37.2% Cocaine 3.5% 4.8% Hard drug (non cocaine) 7.6% 18.4% Injected illegal drug 0.9% 2.4% Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates Adventist youth participating in the study reported lower levels of substance abuse than non-Adventist youth attending public school. The results are: 45.7 percent of Adventist youth use alcohol versus 81.7 percent of non Adventist youth; 31 percent of Adventist youth use tobacco versus 71.3 percent of non-Adventist youth; 16 percent of Adventist youth use marijuana versus 37.2 percent of non-Adventist youth; 3.5 percent of Adventist youth use cocaine versus 4.8 percent of non-Adventist youth; 7.6 percent of Adventist youth use hard drugs (non-cocaine) versus 18.4 percent of non-Adventist youth; 0.9 percent of Adventist youth use injected illegal drugs versus 2.4 percent of non-Adventist youth. Youth Alive Training

Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates Substance used by youth Adventist youth using drugs/alcohol before 13 years old Non-Adventist youth using drugs/alcohol before 13 Alcohol 20.2% 32.4% Tobacco 13.6% 24.9% Marijuana 7.6% 12.5% Cocaine 0.6% 1.2% Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates The number of Adventist students using drugs and alcohol who began to do so before the age of 13 was fewer than the non-Adventist youth attending public school. The results are: 20.2 percent of Adventist youth use alcohol versus 32.4 percent of non-Adventist youth; 13.6 percent of Adventist youth use tobacco versus 24.9 percent of non-Adventist youth; 7.6 percent of Adventist youth use marijuana versus 12.5 percent of non-Adventist youth; 0.6 percent of Adventist youth use cocaine versus 1.2 percent of non-Adventist youth. Youth Alive Training

Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates Adventist youth and sexual experience (SDA schools) Non-Adventist youth and sexual experience (public schools) 16.3% 53.1% Study by Dr. Gary Hopkins & Associates Adventist students were also less sexually experienced than their non-Adventist counterparts in public schools: 16.3 percent of Adventist youth were sexually active versus 53.1 percent of non-Adventist youth. Youth Alive Training

Legal seductive drugs (alcohol & cigarettes) Devil has produced seductive drugs Cigarettes the most addictive drug Addicts of alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, or any illegal drug have better chance to quit than smokers The devil has produced seductive drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes that are considered legal. However, cigarettes end up being the most addictive and dangerous drug in the world. Addicts who try to quit alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, or any illegal drug have a better chance of quitting that people who try to quit smoking cigarettes. Youth Alive Training

1997 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (involving 90,000 teenagers and 18,000 parents) Getting connected with God Getting connected with one another 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (involving 90,000 teenagers and 18,000 parents) How can we prevent youth from getting involved in drugs and other at-risk behaviors? The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD Health) that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1997, involving 90,000 teenagers and 18,000 parents across the United States, provides two vital factors that protect children and youth from getting involved in high risk behaviors. They are: Getting connected with God Getting connected with one another Youth Alive Training

Getting connected with God When religion and prayer are important to an adolescent, they are less likely to smoke, drink, or become involved in premarital sexual activity. Getting connected with God When religion and prayer are important to an adolescent, they are less likely to smoke, drink, or become involved in premarital sexual activity. Youth Alive Training

Impact of drugs is POWERFUL!! Removing the power of drugs will make them feel “lost”. Impact of drugs is POWERFUL!! Many people use drugs because it makes them feel better than they have ever felt in their lives. Removing the power of the drug will make them feel “lost”, unless it is replaced with something else as powerful or more powerful than the drug itself. Youth Alive Training

JESUS CHRIST, the Highest Power! The only power stronger than the effect of a drug is the power of Jesus Christ (a healthy vertical relationship). Youth Alive Training

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 This is biblically supported. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”   Youth Alive Training

Getting connected with one another Independent of race, ethnicity, family structure and poverty status, adolescents who are connected to their parents, to their families, and to their school community are protected from risk behaviors such as sex, violence, emotional distress, suicidal attempts and drug use. Getting connected with one another Independent of race, ethnicity, family structure and poverty status, adolescents who are connected to their parents, to their families, and to their school community are protected from risk behaviors such as sex, violence, emotional distress, suicidal attempts and drug use. Youth Alive Training

Man is not an island “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.” Romans 14:7 Man is not an island Man is not an island. We all long to be accepted and connected with one another for support and encouragement (horizontal relationship). This is biblically supported “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.” Romans 14:7 Youth Alive Training

Youth Alive combines two factors Two important factors of the program are Being connected with Jesus Christ Being connected with one another These make the difference in protecting youth from at-risk behaviors Without these two factors, the program is fun and entertaining, but not successful in preventing addictive behaviors Youth Alive combines two factors Therefore, by putting these two important factors in the Youth Alive program, namely making Jesus Christ the highest power, at the center of all their activities, and allowing the connectedness to take place among youth with other youth and adults, will make the most difference in protecting our youth from at-risk behaviors. Otherwise, the program may be fun and entertaining, but it will not be susccessful in preventing addictive behaviors. Youth Alive Training

Youth Alive spiritual principle based on the Moral Law “The first of all commandments is ‘thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength;’ this is the first commandment. And the second is …Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22: 37-39 KJV This very important Youth Alive spiritual principle is based on the Moral Law “The first of all commandments is ‘thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength;’ this is the first commandment. And the second is…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22: 37-39 KJV Youth Alive Training

God Spiritual Self Others A strong, healthy relationship with God (vertical) produces a strong, healthy other people (horizontal) Spiritual Self Others A strong and healthy relationship with God (a vertical relationship) will produce a strong and healthy relationship with other persons (horizontal relationships) as diagrammed here: To encourage a strong vertical relationship means to strengthen a person’s willingness to live in relationship with God, accepting His love and Lordship, that will automatically value other persons as a child of God, whom He died for. This will provide us with the ability to positively relate to others regardless of their background. Youth Alive Training

Pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit Continually hook ourselves to the power of Jesus Christ in all our activities Experience the rapid connectedness to take place in the Youth Alive conference Pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit Therefore, we need to pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit, that we can continually hook ourselves to the power of Jesus Christ in all our activities and experience the rapid connectedness that will take place in this Youth Alive conference. Youth Alive Training