13 SECTOR PROJECT
The 13 Sector Project is a community-organizing program designed to reduce adolescent 13-20 year old access to alcohol by changing community policies and practices. CMCA employs a wide range of social organizing techniques to address legal, institutional, social, and health issues. The forming of alliances through civic groups, faith organizations, schools, community groups, law enforcement, liquor licensing agencies and advertising outlets partnering together to combat the ongoing issues of underage drinking.
A message from the Executive Director:
"Attend a local baseball or football game, attend a soccer match, a local beauty pageant. or any event the parents of youth attend and ask a parent if they know of someone who has been touched by the horrendous effect of drug abuse. Ask our teenagers in the schools, ask members of your local church, or have morning coffee at one of the local stores in our county and ask that question. You already know the answer.
There is an old saying, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' Recently the four school systems in Jackson County completed the science-based Project Northland. This anti-drug curriculum utilized peer-led experiential activity-driven learning strategies to support a "no use" drug message for our youth. 8,000 students in the 6 th, 7 th and 8 th grade classroom settings participated in this curriculum.
The scientific data being gathered all over the country as well as in our county states this; "Prevention works." Prevention is like hammer and a nail. You drive the nail again and again until it is all the way in the wood. Prevention is a deterrent. It is driving the point of what drugs will do to a child, to a teen, to an adult, to a family, to a community. Many thanks to our teachers, school counselors and school administrators for taking the time and energy to provide this valuable service to our children in Jackson County. And, many thanks to the justice court judges who are elected to enforce the underage drinking laws, the youth court judge, drug counselors, policemen, the sheriff's department, local industry and the men on the Jackson County Board of Supervisors who have each taken a piece of this drug puzzle and are tackling the issues at various levels. This drug issue has the appearance of being insurmountable, but step by step, as a team, and as a community, we can have a profound impact on the drug dilemma in our county as we continue to drive the message about drugs and deliver that message in countless ways through the voices of many people."
-Jim Yancey, Executive Director of JCCSC
