Did you know that feeling connected to just one positive adult outside of the family can buffer the impact of several risk factors in a young person’s life? There is a lot that we can do to create communities where rangatahi/young people can succeed.
We know that these things have been proven to help reduce drug and alcohol harm for young people:
- Having opportunities for every young person to develop:
- Individual protective factors (like feeling in control of their lives, self-esteem, good social skills, decision making skills)
- Good relationships and connections (things like eating a meal together as a family and being able to have someone to talk to can help a huge amount)
- A vocational pathway and having experiences of educational achievement
- Contribution and involvement in their community
- For those young people that need support, we can help them identify that as early as possible and provide easy access to support that is effective and developmentally appropriate