Changing The World With A Youth’s Perspective

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Statesboro High School

Second Presenter's Institution

Statesboro High School

Third Presenter's Institution

Bulloch County Drug Free Community (DFC)

Fourth Presenter's Institution

n/a

Fifth Presenter's Institution

n/a

Location

Session 7 Breakouts

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

When youth leads youth, it promotes all of the protective factors for holistic well- being. The youth who are leading, gain leadership skills and promote that in others who are receiving their knowledge. Barriers decrease that traditionally inhibit the fostering a positive climate for social and emotional skills. The program presented by the youth provided strategies that can ensure physical and emotional safety for other youth while promoting their mental health. The Bulloch County Drug Free Coalition is a community based organization that develops partnership between different sectors in their organization, but have found that youth led initiatives are the most impactful when causing change with youth.

Brief Program Description

Do you want to see youth in action? Come hear how a youth took his middle school experience and turned it into a county-wide initiative to prevent bullying. This is not just another club, it includes a three year curriculum with certification, mentor program and a future youth summit. The partnership with Bulloch County's DFC will also be highlighted if you would like to increase your youth organization sector.

Summary

Come see how the partnership of a veteran youth leader who is a Junior at Statesboro High School and the Bulloch County Drug Free Community (DFC) can not only be an agent of change, but can promote that change throughout five other schools and the community. The population of Bulloch County is over 73,000 and of that 30.4% is considered at or below the poverty level. Although there are three higher education facilities in the county, most of the degrees are skewed towards woman and only 30% are earned by non-white minorities. Empowering the youth sectors in a DFC to create local solutions through programs and clubs such as Bullying Prevention and Game Changers can best resolve local problems so that more youth can graduate from high school and obtain a higher degree to ensure a better quality of life and a healthy community. When organizations are youth led and adult supported you can promote progress through prevention strategies that are sourced from a blend of research based methods and student advocacy. Junior Eljiah Beniman is proof that you can learn from your experience at a very young age and become an agent of change. He has done this through his Bullying Prevention club by creating a three year certification course for students to access on google classroom. He has also developed a mentor program with identified special needs students and is branching that into a focused mentor program for at-risk students called Gentlemen of Distinction. The next step for his youth serving organization is to partner with Bulloch County DFC youth club, Game Changers, and create a Youth Summit for not only his county but others. Please come join us on tips to create a Youth-led program for your community.

Evidence

School behavior data and State Climate Survey

Learning Objectives

  • Partnering with your local Drug Free Community (DFC) organization to create local solution for local problems
  • Empowering youth to be leaders in their community
  • Create a bullying program in your community

Biographical Sketch

1. Tracy I. Robinson is currently in her 17th year of teaching at Statesboro High School. She is the sponsor of the youth sector for Bulloch DFC club, Game Changers. This is her fifth year being involved with a DFC organization. She loves working with youth and empowering others towards positive change in their community. @tracyirobinson

2.Elijah first started his Bullying Prevention Campaign his 7th grade year at William James Middle school, leading him to where he is now, he has been a Certified Bullying Prevention Specialist, for going on 4 years, he is also the founder of the BenimanStopsBullying Organization. This organization hosts local events and helps other counties host local events to show that they're against bullying throughout their county. Elijah also runs countless programs throughout Bulloch County, and assists in different programs throughout the United States. He enjoys reading, spending time with his family, and singing. Elijah feels that bullying prevention should be taught in EVERY SCHOOL, because bullying is a REAL life problem that's not going away until you get people to care for one another and to get people to take a stand for what's not right such as bullying in the world. Elijah is currently trying to write an anti-bullying novel, with real world situations. Elijah has certifications on Organizational Culture, Special Education, and Professional Development! Beniman-Williams is also the Chief of Bullying Prevention for the State of Georgia.https://statesborohighschoolbpdept.weebly.com/

3. Clay Boerner is the Bulloch County Drug Free Community Youth Teams Coordinator. He is also a Student Pastor at Statesboro First United Methodists Church. Clay uses his platform for advocacy in drug and alcohol prevention to positively influence a wide range of youth in Bulloch County. https://bullochadc.org/portfolio-item/drug-free-communities/

Keyword Descriptors

youth-led, youth leadership, bullying, prevention, drug-free communities, DFC, healthy communities, agent of change

Presentation Year

2021

Start Date

3-9-2021 3:00 PM

End Date

3-9-2021 4:00 PM

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Mar 9th, 3:00 PM Mar 9th, 4:00 PM

Changing The World With A Youth’s Perspective

Session 7 Breakouts

Do you want to see youth in action? Come hear how a youth took his middle school experience and turned it into a county-wide initiative to prevent bullying. This is not just another club, it includes a three year curriculum with certification, mentor program and a future youth summit. The partnership with Bulloch County's DFC will also be highlighted if you would like to increase your youth organization sector.