With Foundation in Place, STEPS Focus Turns to Unity and Communication (Video)

The message left with those who attended the STEPS Community Forum was clear Wednesday night: a foundation has been built on unity and community involvement, but there is still a lot of work to be done and the next step is to expand on that foundation.

With nearly 400 in attendance at the Wednesday evening, the Southington Town-wide Effort to Promote Success, or , unveiled the statistics from a November 2011 survey. The results showed progress in efforts to provide Southington youth with a caring environment in school at home and in the community, but some statistics remain disturbingly high said Director Susan Saucier.

“We see these statistics as a reason to stay connected,” Saucier said. “A decrease is a decrease and that’s good, but in most categories the decreases are due to improvement in the seventh and ninth grade responses. There’s actually little to no decreases in the 11th grade attitudes and behaviors.”

The study, conducted using the Search Institute’s Attitudes and Behaviors Study, involved 1,369 students in grades 7, 9 and 11 who answered various survey questions regarding how likely they would be to use drugs, alcohol, consider suicide or be involved in other potentially risky behavior.

In addition, the study looked in detail at whether the students felt they had a caring and supportive environment at home, in school, in their neighborhoods and in the community in general. The study was conducted through the assistance of a grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The study showed that overall use of alcohol was down 6 percent from early 2010, marijuana use was down 2 percent, sexual promiscuity had decreased by 7 percent and behavior threatening physical harm was down by 9 percent. Tobacco use remained the same.

While these statistics shows positive trends among today’s youth, Saucier said there are still strides to be made.

“There are still some alarming statistics,” she said. “When we started this program, it came after our community was struck with the tragedy of four students taking their own life. The percentage of students who contemplated suicide remained at 9 percent.”

But the foundation to make a change is in place, both STEPS Youth Prevention Coordinator Kelly Leppard and Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said.

Leppard said the town did not expect to see huge gains in the short time the program has been in place, but will look to make those positive statistics grow exponentially in the next several years with ongoing teamwork and dialogue from 12 distinct sectors of the community.

Community sectors include youth, media, schools, parents, civic groups, businesses, medical professionals, town government, community organizations, clergy, law enforcement and youth serving agencies.

“The building blocks are in place. Now we need to really work together to make significant strides in providing every child in town with the 31 to 40 developmental assets they need in order to feel respected, loved and have the tools to make intelligent life choices.”

Joe Rogus and Emily Socha, both students at and members of the STEPS Advisory Committee, said they’ve seen growth in the community and encouraged business owners, neighbors and other community leaders to continue encouraging students.

Taking steps to encourage students is a great way to help said Evelyn Ciaburri, assistant STEPS youth prevention coordinator, but it goes beyond that. She said to truly be successful, each sector needs to open lines of communication and find new ways to get involved in supporting today’s youth.

The program Wednesday provided an opportunity for people throughout the community to see what students can achieve, with several performances from students in town, and Erardi challenged the town to enhance their efforts further – starting on the ride home with their son or daughter.

Erardi, just over a year ago, used three words to get people in Southington to embrace the partnership when he asked, “are you in?” He said the next step is communication and opening the lines of discussion between children and adults.

“When you leave this evening, be a part of the solution,” Erardi said. “Be strong, be powerful, be smart. Do the heavy lifting and have that conversation that could make a difference.”

See the complete set of the statistics in the photos included above. For more on STEPS, visit the website by clicking on the link or view the STEPS video attached above. Also be sure to look back at our on the future of the program.

Editor’s Note: This was an event where everyone who spoke could have been quoted and words, pictures and video are not enough to show the events of the evening. We encourage everyone to share thoughts on the evening and their plans to get involved in the comments section below. We hope to hear from you!