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CATS Staff
Sue Centner
Director
Paula Galvin, M.Ed.
Assistant Director
Kaitlyn Clarke,
Youth Coordinator
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Community Alliance for Teen Safety is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Our mission is to promote safe habits for all youth by increasing awareness of high-risk behaviors, encouraging healthy choices, and fostering community alliances.
www.catsnh.org
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November 2011
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches we tend to focus on the rush of preparing for family gatherings, shopping for last minute items, and planning for the often long road trips to visit friends and family. On this day of giving thanks let's not forget those that are less fortunate and if you are traveling please remember to drive safely and responsibly.
Thanksgiving is also a time to remember family traditions which make it possible for the family's distinctive history to pass on to the next generation thus expanding the family "story". The U.S. Surgeon General has declared Thanksgiving to be National Family History Day, encouraging Americans to share a meal and their family health history.
Holidays are perfect opportunities to connect and share. The Journal of American Medical Association conducted a study a few years back that suggested that parental connectedness was the single biggest factor in protecting adolescents from such risks as failing in school, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as teenage pregnancy. We hope that your Thanksgiving offers more than an abundance of delicious food but the opportunity to connect and share with family, friends and your community in ways that will create lasting memories.
Best regards,
Sue Centner, Director
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In the News
Derry students mark Red Ribbon Week (Derry News)
Red Ribbon Week Review
Submitted by the CATS Youth Group
On Monday of Red Ribbon week, the CATS youth group visited the Derry Boys and Girls club. While at the Boys and Girls club, the CATS members did activities with the kids that promoted a healthy lifestyle and a healthy community. These activities included cross word puzzle, mazes, word searches, and creating quilt squares. The quilt squares depicted the kids' safe places. One little boy drew his school and another drew his backyard. We concluded the day by drawing more pictures and handing out ribbon and candy to the kids. The candy came with a written message about being drug free and the kids loved it. Many of the kids thought the message on the candy was a fortune and tried to collect as many messages as they could. In addition to the candy, the kids really enjoyed the red ribbon stickers that were passed out. Some of the kids asked for extra stickers so their friends at school could have one. Our visit to the Boys and Girls club was a successful one!
On Wednesday, October 26th, the CATS youth group joined up with the Profuture youth group at Hood Middle School. Both groups took part in planting tulips around the school in honor of red ribbon week. After the group met in Pam Richardson classroom for cookies and talked about the importance of living a drug free life. The Profuture group asked the CATS group questions around the theme of red ribbon week and what activities the CATS youth group were planning for the rest of the week. The CATS group hopes to partner back up with Profuture later in the year for other activities.
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New Helpline for Parents
Parents: Do you need help with your child's drug or alcohol use? Call the Parents Toll-Free Helpline at 1-855-DRUGFREE (1-855-378-4373) or visit the website at The Partnership at drugfree.org. |
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New Middle School Youth Group
The ProFuture club is a collaborative effort of the Community Alliance for Teen Safety and Gilbert H. Hood Middle School. GHH students meet weekly on Wednesdays from 2 PM to 3 PM at GHH. Meetings are facilitated by Pam Richard of GHH and Kaitlyn Clarke of CATS. 8th grader Kellie Griffin was the inspiration behind the meetings and helped create the vision, mission, and purpose statements. Meetings are open to all GHH students.
Thirteen students attended the first meeting held on the 19th. They helped plan distribution of the Red Ribbon Week bookmarks and pencils to students in Derry's K-8 grades in commemoration of the national awareness campaign. The bookmarks reminded students to "Be Smart, Don't Start".
At their second meeting held on October 26th the ProFuture Club welcomed more new members and were visited by nine students from Pinkerton Academy who are members of the CATS high school youth group. To further acknowledge Red Ribbon Week all students worked together to plant 100 tulips at GHH to plant the promise of a drug-free, healthy and safe lifestyle. The tulips were donated by Drug-Free NH and the National Guard Anti-Drug Task Force. Bookmarks and pencils were donated by CATS with funds from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant. Read more
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Bullying Prevention and State Laws
The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention recently released a study on Bullying Prevention and State Laws.
Although school-related bullying has been a long-standing problem, the past decade has seen a dramatic shift in its public perception. Once viewed as a normal part of growing up or as a rite of passage, bullying is now being seen as a deeply harmful and unacceptable behavior that must be stopped and prevented. As a result, schools are now being required to accept professional and legal responsibility for taking the lead in our society to ensure that students will be safe to learn in bullying-free environments. To date, 47 states have passed bullying prevention legislation requiring schools to take leadership in addressing this problem. Read more
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students Prevention News Digest (11/3/11)
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 | | Lt. John Twiss and Sgt. Eric Kester of the Derry Police collected 89 pounds of unused or expired prescription drugs at the 3rd National DEA Rx Take Back on October 29th. |
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Drowsy Driving Prevention Week (is every day!)
November 6th through 12th
 Drowsy Driving Prevention WeekŪ is a National Sleep Foundation public awareness campaign to educate drivers about sleep safety. Last year, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a study showing that the tragedy of drowsy driving is more pervasive than shown in previous estimates. Their study shows that drowsy driving involves about one in six deadly crashes; one in eight crashes resulting in occupant hospitalization, and one in fourteen crashes in which a vehicle was towed. These percentages are substantially higher than most previous estimates, suggesting that the contribution of drowsy driving to motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths has not been fully appreciated.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving results in 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries and more than 100,000 accidents each year. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analysis of the accidents resulting from drivers falling asleep behind the wheels is cause for alarm and concern. According to the study, younger drivers age 16-24 were nearly twice as likely to be involved in a drowsy driving crash as drivers age 40-59, and about 57 percent of drowsy driving crashes involved the driver drifting into other lanes or even off the road. Read more |
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