Beyond The Bell Upson County recently celebrated five successful years of preventing substance abuse among young people in Upson County and looks forward to the next five years with a call to action for community members. Residents of Upson County are invited to join Beyond The Bell’s Community Prevention Coalition.

Members of Beyond The Bell’s community prevention coalition attend monthly meetings to address issues in the communities specific to those they are located. The coalition aims to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors in the Upson County community in Thomaston, Yatesville, The Rock, Lincoln Park, Hannah’s Mill, Salem, and Sunset Village.

“A reason why Beyond The Bell Upson County has been so successful with the community’s youth is because of the connections and resources that our coalition members bring,” said Beyond The Bell Upson County’s Interim Project Coordinator Sandra Dean. “We’d love to have more community members join our coalition to advocate for the youth of Upson so that each child has an opportunity to learn prevention methods and enjoy a bright future.”

Beyond The Bell offers programs in the local schools and community, including the Botvin Life Skills Training, which consists of a 7-week groundbreaking substance abuse and violence prevention program designed to promote mental health and positive youth development. Beyond The Bell also implements the “Positive Social Norms” campaign, which focuses on the fact that people’s behavior often is influenced by their perceptions of what is “normal” or “typical.” The problem is that people usually severely misperceive the typical behaviors or attitudes of their peers. For example, if people believe that the majority of their peers drink, then they are more likely to drink. Using social norms marketing to inform people that most of their peers do not drink can potentially lead them to avoid drinking.

Beyond The Bell encourages anyone interested in being involved in providing the community’s youth with a jump start in life to contact Sandra Dean at 770-285-6937.

For more information about Beyond The Bell, its programs/resources and success all of the impacted communities, please visit www.beyondthebellkids.org or visit any of the BTB communities Facebook pages.