When we as educators talk of prevention we are speaking of the effort to prevent people from experiencing negative consequences due to bad decisions. Prevention is teaching people to make healthy, responsible choices. It means providing our youth with positive opportunities, relevant skills and appropriate rewards for worthy accomplishments and responsible behavior. Prevention provides a means for adults to acquire new skills and change inappropriate habits. Prevention is a process of educating our communities so that together neighborhoods can meet the challenges of life.
Prevention is education and education is prevention.
We must integrate the principles of prevention into our daily lives. The steps each of us takes toward incorporating prevention principles into our own lives will have a profound influence on our families, our children, and our communities. Actions do speak louder than words. As I watch him grow and change before my eyes, I realize that even at his young age he is watching everything I do. His birth has renewed my commitment to conduct my personal and professional life in a way I would like him to mirror.