1. 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

2. 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 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Seventh-day Adventists not exempt from these problems
Study by Dr. Hopkins and Associates
among SDA youth attending 69
academies throughout US and Canada
( )
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 , shows that:
Youth Alive Training

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. “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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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: 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: KJV
Youth Alive Training

20. 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

21. 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