SRSLY adds new youth programming this school year

submitted by Alex Duranczyk, SRSLY Manchester Coalition Director

Do you remember the “SRSLY? Check your Stats” campaign from 2018? This year, our Project Success counselor and SRSLY team are working with students to develop a lunch campaign called “SRSLY–Check in with Us.” You will see the team at lunch at Manchester Junior/Senior High School once a month, on the first Thursday of each month. There also will be articles in local media, parent newsletters, and more.

SRSLY–Check in with us, is working to begin a conversation with students, parents, teachers, and others to change the norm that most teens are using alcohol, marijuana, and abusing prescription drugs. The campaign will help highlight the fun, positive things youth are doing without the use of substances.

In other news from SRSLY, recent surveys are dispelling the “myth” that kids don’t want to spend time with their parents. It may seem difficult to believe, but according to the Opinion Research Corporation, about “67% of the teens in America want to spend MORE time with their parents.”

That does not mean teens want to spend all their free time together–they are teenagers, after all! But it tells us that they desire and value a positive relationship with their parents. In fact, from the MiPHY survey in 2018, we know that 88% of Manchester students report enjoying time spent with their parents.

Speaking of the MiPHY … this school year is another MiPHY year. This means that students in grades 7, 9 and 11 are going to be invited to take a survey called the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth through the Department of Education. The survey is anonymous and asks students about everything from physical activity, nutrition, time management to drug use in the past 30 days. The survey is intended to help schools learn how they can better serve students as a whole.

Are you concerned about a student? The Project Success Counselor can meet with students at school for a screening, brief intervention and referral for services. Check it out at www.stjoeschelsea.org/projectsuccess or contact 734-548-5077.

Interested in Joining SRSLY? Contact us at info@srslymanchester.org.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.