Teaching them that brushing their teeth prevents cavities and buckling seat belts prevents serious injury are just two of the many areas in which we help our children learn how to take care of themselves. Prevention is the sum of our efforts to ensure healthy, safe, and productive lives for all our children. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention means finding ways to help our youth learn about the serious risks related to using or selling these substances before they become involved, not after. Violence may or may not be linked with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. When we help our youth understand the many reasons behind violence, we better prepare them to prevent it and to deal with it should it happen to them.
Prevention reduces the risk of injury and fosters a safe environment.
It leads to a reduction in ATOD traffic fatalities, disease, rape, vandalism, assaults, child abuse, teen pregnancy, and other related social issues, such as poverty, homelessness, and domestic violence. Parents, who have the most important role, must set a positive example in the home. And these efforts must begin early in a child's life. School-community coalitions, local proactive grassroots efforts in every high school pyramid, focus on violence prevention, ATOD prevention, and early intervention. Their goal is to establish a cooperative partnership to give our youth the opportunity to lead healthy lives.