Youth Alive Participants Manual

98 Pages·2007·0.25 MB·English

Youth Alive Participants Manual
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Jesus Christ Our Highest Power
Note
YOUTH ALIVE is a positive peer prevention program sponsored collaboratively by the General
Conference Health Ministries, Youth, Education and Family Ministries departments. It is
a program designed to assist youth in preventing dangerous addictions, help them setting up
appropriate boundaries, and to challenge them to hook on to the POWER of JESUS CHRIST
in order to accomplish this goal. This is a very important program for you which has Jesus
Christ as the center piece. Without Christ at the center, the YOUTH ALIVE program is no better
than any other prevention program available anywhere in the world.
The use of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and compulsive behaviors has created alarming
problems around the world. It is sobering to know that legislation most often ignores the fact
that the dangerous drugs, alcohol and nicotine, causing the most amount of harm are legal.
More people die from the consequences of cigarette smoking than all of the other drugs
combined including alcohol. The devil has produced a very seductive drug that society
generally feels is not that bad, however, it ends up being the most addictive and dangerous
drug in the world. Addicts who try to quit alcohol, cocaine, marijuana or any illegal drug
have a better chance of quitting than people who try to quit smoking cigarettes.
Only five percent of those who are addicted to alcohol are able to quit. It is interesting that
treatment programs, that demonstrate consistent success in helping people to quit drinking,
are the ones that have a spiritual component in it. In fact, recent research reported that
people participating in the alcohol treatment programs, with no spiritual component in it,
caused the addicts to feel less confident in overcoming their addiction than when there is a
spiritual component in it.
Many people use mind-altering drugs because it makes them feel better than they have ever
felt in their lives. Removing the power of the mind-altering drug makes them feel “lost.”
You cannot remove a mind-altering drug such as tobacco or alcohol from someone’s life
without replacing it with something else as powerful or more powerful. The only power
stronger than the effect of a mind-altering drug is the power of Jesus Christ. Therefore,
planning your YOUTH ALIVE program without Christ at the center of all your activities, may
be fun, and entertaining, but it will not be successful in preventing addictive behaviors.
In preparing for this preventive program, the General Conference Health Ministries, Youth,
Education and Family Ministries Departments have reviewed some very important research.
The results of these various studies done will be helpful in allowing you to understand what
it is in the YOUTH ALIVE program that will make it a success.
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What information the youth will learn from this program will increase their knowledge
– but, it will NOT make them able to prevent addictive behaviors.
The following findings have been useful in preventing addictions among youth:
Child’s involvement in religious (spiritual) activities
High self-esteem
Positive peer group influence
Youth connecting to adults
Adults connecting to youth
Supervision
Modeling of decision making skills
Christian values incorporated in the lives of youth
YOUTH ALIVE program promotes all of these items listed above.
Connecting youth with adults and youth with youth, will make the YOUTH ALIVE program a
successful one.
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THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION NURTURES
COMMITMENT
Commitment to an addiction-free life is a spiritual decision. Therefore, nurturing spiritual
growth is the key goal of the YOUTH ALIVE program. In defining spirituality, Christ’s
explanation of the moral law is relevant:
“The first of all the commandments is ‘thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is
the first commandment. And the second is like ...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself” - Holy Bible: Matthew 22:37-39, KJV”
Spirituality has been, therefore, defined as follows:
“Spirituality is having a strong, healthy relationship with God through Jesus
Christ (a vertical relationship) and a strong, healthy relationship with other
persons (horizontal relationships).”
These vertical and horizontal relationships are diagramed below:
God
Spiritual
Self Others
It is a model, that is best exemplified in Christ’s own words in John 12:32
“If I be lifted up ... will draw all people to me.”
One of the most powerful forces of youth are those who have these healthy vertical and
horizontal relationships in their lives, living up to the four aspects of Christ words, which
are:
1. Let Jesus lift you up (vertical relationship). Psalms 40:1-5.
2. Lift up Jesus in your life (vertical relationship: priority status ). Matthew
6:33.
3. Lift up Jesus to others (horizontal relationship through support, outreach,
nurture). 2 Corinthians 5:18.
4. Lift up others to Jesus (horizontal/vertical relationship through intercessory
prayers). James 5:16.
Therefore, developing spirituality in our lives means strengthening a person's willingness to
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live in harmony with God’s will in our lives, accepting His love and Lordship, and building
the ability to positively relate to ourselves and other people.
In 1997 a very important research1 demonstrated the fact that youth who feel connected at
home and at school are protected from many at risk behaviors such as sex, violence,
emotional distress, suicidal attempts and the use of mind-altering drugs.
Therefore, clinging to the mighty power of Jesus Christ and allowing the connectedness to
take place among the youth with other youth and adults, are the two factors that will make
the most difference in protecting our youth from harm. This beautiful vertical relationship
with God through Jesus Christ and horizontal relationship with others are woven throughout
the fabric of the YOUTH ALIVE program.
HOW DOES YOUTH ALIVE WIN SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT FROM YOUTH?
Many young people who have attended a YOUTH ALIVE conference testified that they had
found Christ at the conference and gave their lives to Him. YOUTH ALIVE is a powerful
magnet for youth who are difficult or impossible to reach by traditional means, drawing them
into the loving embrace of other Christians and the church community. We can visualize the
process as a “flowering of spiritual awareness and commitment” because of the warm, peer-
to-peer friendship environment.
SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES OF YOUTH ALIVE
1. Positive abstinence is valued.
One of the fundamental beliefs of the Adventist church is in the importance of
positive abstinence, avoiding alcohol, tobacco, other addictive or narcotic drugs, and
compulsive behaviors because they damage and destroy the body temple. See 1 Cor.
6:19-20.
2. Positive attitudes and experiences are fostered.
God did not create negative things. All the frowns, tears, pain, hostility, shame, and
death in the world came through Satan's influence. God is a positive Being. By
fostering joy, smiles, laughter, honesty, trust, teamwork, love, peace, encouragement,
and support, YOUTH ALIVE operates on God's side. Our “playing field” is in harmony
with God's wish that His creation be restored to the “good” state. See Genesis 1:31.
1
Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, Bauman KE, Harris KM, Jones J, Tabor J, Beuhring T, Sieving RE,
Shew M, Ireland M, Bearinger LH, and Udry J. Protecting adolescents from harm: Findings from the National
Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA, 1997:278(10):823-832.
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3. The inner child is nurtured.
Inside every person remains an unseen “inner child.” Keeping in touch with the
playfulness, simplicity, innocence, and trust of that child was encouraged by Christ:
“Except ye become as little children, ye shall not see the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt.
18:2-3). YOUTH ALIVE fosters that child-like spirit which Christ commended through
its games, social interaction, and youth-oriented program.
4. Self-worth is encouraged.
God didn't create junk when He made human beings, including adolescents! A
correct foundation for self-esteem consists of identifying self as God's child, a prince
or princess of the kingdom (Romans 8:14-17). When young people realize how
valued they are by God, they begin to develop self-respect and self-knowledge.
Positive self-esteem is an important factor to protect oneself against the false appeal
of mind-altering drugs.
5. Acceptance and love are unconditional.
The ethical foundation of “Honor, Dignity, and Respect” at YOUTH ALIVE creates an
environment where everyone can feel valued and wanted. Since God loves human
beings with unconditional love, the same principle facilitates His love to flow
through people to reach those who have not yet discovered that God wants to be their
best Friend. See Romans 8:31-39.
6. Positive interpersonal relationships are strengthened.
The experiences in Friendship Groups, the “warm fuzzies” expressed among
participants, the philosophy of “honor, dignity, and respect,” all contribute to a
bonding and unity among youth and adults which is much needed in the church and
society. (Col. 3:12-15).
“With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained might furnish, how soon might
the gospel of a risen, soon coming Savior be taken to all the world, how soon might the end
come, the end of suffering and tears.”
Counsels to Teachers, Parents and Students, p. 555
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PREVENTION: AN IMPORTANT APPROACH
PREVENTION IS NEEDED
The use of alcohol, tobacco, other mind-altering drugs resulting in compulsive,
addictive behaviors has created alarming problems around the world. For instance, more
than half of all violent crimes (murders, armed assaults, rapes), more than half of all traffic
fatalities, 70 percent of all drownings, and at least a third of all suicides are all devastating
and destructive events linked to the use of alcohol and other drugs.
More than ten times as many people die each year from alcohol-related causes than die from
all illicit drugs combined and more than 20 times as many deaths are related to smoking.
Alcohol and other drugs cost years of quality life and huge amounts of money. In the United
States, alcohol and drug use was estimated to cost each man, woman and child $800 a year,
regardless of whether they used them or not. This amounts to $200 billion in the U.S. alone.
Therefore, prevention is definitely needed.
WHAT IS PREVENTION?
Prevention is the sum of our efforts to ensure healthy, safe, and productive lives for
all persons. It means keeping from occurring the many problems related to the use of these
substances.
A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH
YOUTH ALIVE is a comprehensive program that has brought about awareness of
dangerous behaviors that plague youth worldwide. It is a POSITIVE, PEER
PREVENTION PROGRAM (4 P’s).
Positive because it focuses on positive alternatives with Christ, the highest power, which
results in a positive interpersonal communication with one another. Participants
treat each other with “Honor, Dignity, and Respect,” valuing each other as a
child of God, with no racism, no prejudice, no put downs that promotes a feeling
of complete acceptance. God made all things positive and He wants us to
associate with one another in the positive heavenly environment..
Peer because youth instead of adults are reaching out to other youth and children to be
drug-free. The connectedness between youth and other youth provide a natural
high sense of satisfaction, with increased self-esteem, and an uplifting experience
through Christ. Thus the use of drugs become undesirable.
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Prevention: because it focuses on it’s theme “MY CHOICE — DRUG FREE,”
presented through all components of the program. Thus encouraging
a drug-free commitment to all the participants and to stop using for
those youth who had experimented on drugs casually. The YOUTH
ALIVE pledge to be signed is as follows:
I pledge to choose Jesus Christ as my Highest Power,
I want to be healthy and happy
I will say NO to alcohol
I will say NO tobacco
I will say NO to illegal drugs
I will say NO to compulsive behaviors
I will help my friends to say NO to these things also
I pledge to stand up for what I know is right
Program: has five elements, namely:
Information
Personal and Spiritual Growth
Leadership Training
Environmental Change
Positive Alternatives
YOUTH ALIVE program has helped build capable youth leaders committed to a drug-free living
and making a difference in their world.
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WHAT ARE FRIENDSHIP GROUPS?
Friendship Group is the most important activity in the YOUTH ALIVE program whether in
the conference or in the local club setting. This is a small group, gathering frequently,
giving time for the youth to relax, reflect on the events of the day, and get connected with
peers and adult leaders. Some youth come from unhappy homes, thus the Friendship Group
in a local club setting, can truly become a good, positive peer support for them.
GROUP STRUCTURE
The maximum ideal size for a Friendship Group is 10-12 persons including two co-
facilitators: a youth and an adult. Groups between 5 and 14 persons are feasible. A
Friendship Group is not a therapy group. But it does create and assure a climate of trust.
It is meant to be a place where young people can be themselves, share with each other, and
take the opportunity to grow and to learn more about themselves, others, and God.
Friendship Groups help young people discover who God is and what a good friend God can
be to them.
This small size group must operate on some ground rules, which eventually promotes
bonding to take place with each other.
RECOMMENDED GROUND RULES FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Speak for yourself. Use the word “I,” not “we,” “you,” “most people,” etc.
2. You do have the option to pass, but also the responsibility to take risks.
3. Support others. This means showing that you understand and care about
them.
4.. Don't make critical, put-downs or “killer” statements.
5. Keep confidential what is shared in the group.
6. Listen when others are talking.
7. Be as honest with yourself and the members of your group.
8. Have as much fun as possible, but play safely.
9. Expect unfinished business. Not all can be done in one group session.
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WHAT ARE COOPERATIVE GAMES?
Cooperative games are energetic activities where the groups work together for a common
purpose. These games are high-energy level activities. Cooperative Games differ from the
traditional competitive sports. Its motto is:
“PLAY HARD, PLAY FAIR, NOBODY HURT!”
The major elements in a Cooperative Game are:
Challenge: The challenge involves a variety of skills so all players can participate.
Trust: The games are designed to create and communicate trust, establishing a sense of
community, while playing with consideration on how other people will feel.
Safety: Five words make up the checklist for safety considerations for the Cooperative
Games: Contained, Cushioned, Controlled, Played with Caring, Played with Community.
Players are given the option to exit from the game if they choose to.
Empowerment: This principle gives the players control of and responsibility for their own
play. Players can have the empowerment by taking turns to be the referee or being the “it.”
Innovation: You are free to devise new ways to play and change the rules if they do not
meet the needs of the group or is not acceptable to the culture.
The important thing to remember when coordinating these cooperative games is to involve
everyone. Cooperative games are great ways for groups to get acquainted and be
comfortable. They are ideal for drug-free and friendship-building FUN!
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