Introduction
Substance abuse among teenagers is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon in the community. Substance abuse involves the use of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. Research on the use of drugs among teenagers indicates that majority begin using the drugs as early as the age of 9 years (Fisher and Harrison 43). The use of drugs among teenagers is responsible for the poor academic performance among those who use them.
Besides, substance abuse has led to an increase in diseases such as lung cancer among teenagers (Fisher and Harrison 56). The efforts made by the government and the parents to address this problem have yielded little results. It is against this backdrop that I intend to organize a social event that aims at sensitizing teenagers on the effects of substance abuse.
The Event
The Participants
The event will be held on 25th of January 2011 at the community’s social hall. The preparations will begin a day earlier. The preparations will involve advertising the event through posters and decorating the venue (Kilkenny 78).
The event will start at 9: 30 am and end at 5:30 pm. The speakers will include parents, teenagers and community health officers. The speakers will be asked to volunteer and offer their advice for free. All participants will be asked to carry packed foodstuffs and drinks.
However, the guest speakers will be given free food and drinks. Apart from the education, there will be entertainment activities such as singing competitions. The entertainers will be the participating teenagers who have a talent in singing and can volunteer to perform within a short notice.
The Agenda of the Event
The theme of the event will be “promoting behavior change through social networks”. The event aims at persuading teenagers to stop substance abuse in the neighborhood. The first step will involve sensitizing the teenagers on the negative effects of substance abuse. This will be followed by an explanation on how to cope with the problem of substance abuse.
This aims at helping those who are already involved in substance abuse to manage their conditions. Finally, the teenagers will be educated on how to avoid the use of drugs. The education will focus on how teenagers can use social networks such as twitter and facebook to share information on the dangers of substance abuse and how to avoid or cope with it.
Objectives
The event aims at achieving three main objectives. First, it aims at creating awareness among venerable teenagers on the dangers of substance abuse. Second, it seeks to equip the teenagers with the knowledge and skills that they can use to avoid substance abuse. The skills will also help them to cope with the problem.
Finally, the event aims at promoting responsibility among teenagers through sharing information with the help of social networks and peer education. The main goal is to reduce cases of substance abuse among teenagers.
Time Table
Budget
Works Cited
Fisher, Gary and Thomas Harrison. Substance abuse: information for school counselors. New York: Pearson, 2008. Print.
Kilkenny, Shannon. The complete guide to successful event planning. New York: Atlantic Publishing Company, 2006. Print.