Herb Sutton, a member of the management committee for Planet Youth, discusses the initiative at Battlefords Chamber of Commerce, Tuesday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Helping Youth

Chamber hears about Planet Youth to reduce substance abuse in youth

Sep 18, 2019 | 1:59 PM

It takes a village to steer youth away from alcohol and towards a healthier lifestyle.

That is part of the message for an initiative called Planet Youth that City of North Battleford/RCMP community safety coordinator Herb Sutton discussed at Battlefords Chamber of Commerce’s meeting Tuesday.

He was part of a group of three community leaders who visited Iceland in March to participate in a conference to learn more about the program, and look at whether it could be adopted here. Sutton was joined by Living Sky School Division Student Services Superintendent Nancy Schultz and Light of Christ Director of Education Cory Rideout at the conference.

“We’re doing what we can as adults to make the lives better for youths in our community,” Sutton said. “That’s been a topic of discussion for a long time.”

A member of the newly formed management committee for Planet Youth regionally, Sutton said with the rash of youth suicides in the Battlefords in early 2018 the community remains concerned about young people’s wellness.

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“Our youth are really experiencing some incredible challenges,” he said.

Iceland once had a high number of youth dealing with alcohol abuse. But since Planet Youth started there more than 20 years ago, the situation has improved significantly.

Numbers show incidents of youth alcohol use have dropped significantly where Planet Youth was adopted, according to studies. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The project centers around three components: setting up a parental watch program, providing pre-paid leisure time for youth to keep them engaged and involved in healthy activities, and creating a media campaign to discourage youth from using alcohol and cigarettes.

Sutton said the project doesn’t aim to stop youth from using alcohol in particular, but rather takes a preventative approach, instead, to discourage it.

He asked chamber members to complete an online survey to provide feedback about how they feel about the Planet Youth project and whether they would be interested in seeing it start in the Battlefords.

Sutton said it will be up to the community to decide whether they want to get involved in the project.

He said plans are in place to present the Planet Youth approach to the community, likely sometime in October.

Chamber member Warren Williams said following the meeting the concept has a lot of potential.

“Planet Youth is something that is exciting to look at, to see if it fits for our community,” he said.

He said the community is not unique in its need to address challenges with youth. Williams supports innovative projects like Planet Youth, but to be successful, he believes all sectors of the community need to be involved, including civic government, businesses, community groups and citizens.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow