Prevention

GCSAPP's main goal is to reduce substance abuse by youth through prevention education for parents and teens.

Our message for parents is Now Is The Time To Talk To Your Kids About Drugs And Alcohol. We provide educational materials for parents through mailings, newspaper and radio advertisements and Parent Dinners.  Our dinners give parents the chance to meet with other parents and hear about Tips for Talking to Your Kids, Brain Development and the Science of Addiction.  We have annual Parent Dinners for parents of Gunnison and Crested Butte middle school students.  We also survey parents every 2 years to get data on their perceptions of their kids' behavior which helps guide our prevention efforts.  Parents will receive our Parent Guide in Fall 2010 in the mail along with the Parent Survey.

We work closely with the Gunnison Watershed School District to provide in-class prevention education for students in middle and high school.  We specifically provide Positive Action and Project Alert curriculum.  We also provide tailored sessions for specific student groups. We have been working closely with the Gunnison Valley School, providing students with prevention sessions on the effects of drugs and alcohol on brain development. We also work with Gunnison High School Student Leadership Club and Civics classes to provide Food Forums on topics such as Marijuana, Binge Drinking and Leadership opportunities.
 
We also support prevention education at Western State College.  We collaborate with Western's Responsible Alcohol Partnership (WRAP).  For the last 2 years we have supported a part-time Prevention Education Coordinator at WSC.  This year we will focus on working with WRAP to reduce substance abuse on campus.