Youth Are the Experts in San Diego Project

When community leaders in San Diego County decided to do something about underage drinking they turned to the experts: youth. "There's no one better than young people themselves to tell you how underage alcohol use, binge drinking and media messages affect them," says Jill Galante, program coordinator of the San Diego Youth Council . The project is part of the County's Policy Panel on Youth Access to Alcohol, a coalition of policy makers from every sector of the community who have been working since 1994 to reduce underage drinking and related problems.

Using media advocacy and public policy strategies, the Youth Council is countering promotional messages about alcohol that young people get everyday through radio, magazines, TV and billboards. When an "Absolut San Diego" vodka billboard featuring a Zebra popped up in town, the Youth Council's teen members responded with ads of their own. "Absolute Trap - Don't Buy The Lie" says one of the bus shelter ads (below) they created in partnership with local media professionals and funding from California's Office of Traffic Safety. The Council launched the campaign with a press conference, and has since gone on to develop additional media advocacy projects aimed at reducing underage drinking and alcohol-related traffic deaths. The second campaign reached millions of people through mall kiosk ads and movie theater slides that featured pictures of Youth Council members and messages like "Nine teens die everyday from alcohol related accidents." The Council recently filmed a series of TV ads based on the campaign that will begin airing this summer.

Youth are involved in every aspect of the creative process and help develop advertising messages based on what they know will reach their young peers. "You can't tell friends 'don't drink," says Council member Gabriella Villada, 15, a sophomore at Crawford High School. "We try to educate young people about how the alcohol industry is brainwashing them."

The Youth Council consistently relies on insights and inspiration from young members to plan and deliver innovative media advocacy and alcohol policy projects. Two young women traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to give testimony that helped prevent the alcohol industry from lowering taxes. Other youth listed the "ABCs of good alcohol outlets" in a report card that detailed whether San Diego stores met standards for good lighting, working pay phones and other safety-related criteria. The group has also called attention to alcohol industry marketing during Cinco de Mayo, and urged a boycott of companies that send mixed messages to teens by selling martini and shot glasses with high school logos.

Sustaining this kind of impact over several years depends upon understanding the young experts who are essential to the success of the San Diego Youth Council. Jill Galante knows that even those young people who want to prevent underage drinking sometimes need motivation to get involved and reasons to stay active. "Prepare yourself," says Galante, "it takes lots of recruitment to get a handful of youth members." She's found that offering rides, providing dinner and even writing college recommendations are the kinds of incentives that keep young people engaged. Her reward is not just the young people's participation, but knowing that they have discovered their own power to change lives and stop the cycle of alcohol-related death among youth. "We are the future," says Youth Council member Berge-Marie Vilsaint, 16. "We can prevent teens from dying over and over again."