Community Forum for Parents of Teenagers
Brainstorming of Problems:
- Lack of American Diabetes Association in Hancock County
- Lack of activities for teenagers
- Teenage pregnancy
- Teenage abortion rate
- Teenage use of drugs and alcohol
- Teenage social issues
Possible Solutions:
- Teenage hotline or crisis line
- Youth council
- Written and telephone surveys of parents and teenagers
- Community forum for parents and teenagers
Solution: Community forum for parents and teenagers
- Advertising
- Community forum panel of experts
- Discussion of Alcohol
- 60% of teenagers believe heavy drinking is socially acceptable
- 100,000 ten and eleven year olds reported getting drunk at least once a week in 1992
- Americans spent $96B on beer, wine and distilled spirits last year
- Discussion of Drugs
- Drug of choice- alcohol
- Second choice- marijuana
- Marijuana stays in system for up to one month after use
- Marijuana is socially accepted by majority of Americans
- Teen Pregnancy
- More teens are becoming sexually active at much younger ages with many more sexual partners
- Every 13 seconds, an American teen acquires an STD
- Nearly one million teens become pregnant
- Evaluation
- Most felt it was very valueable and wanted to have one every year
Group Members:
- Teresa Bever
-
Fred Keen
-
John Lichtle
-
Judy McEvoy
-
Susan Strong
-
Ty Thomas
Post-Secondary Education in Hancock County
Problem Hypothesis:
- Hancock County has a growing residential and industrial population
- Insufficient opportunities exist in the area of post-secondary education in Hancock County
- While many begin additional education following high school, a significant number do not complete their schooling
- Workforce is required to further develop or be retrained in their work skills to keep pace with a rapidly changing work environment
Action Plan: Develop a survey to determine if a need existed
- Individual and Business surveys sent to approximately 650 people. Nearly 325 returned.
- Individual survey results
- 62.9% would utilize a local facility
- 32.2% would enroll part-time, 43.7% would use it occasionally
- 32.7% felt that the focus should be technical training, 12.7% Associates Degree
- Business survey Results
- 53.2% would utilize a local facility
- 62.3% though the focus should be technical training, 10.4% Associates Degree
- 75.3% of the businesses provide monetary support to upgrade skills
Group Members:
-
Susanna Combs
-
Mark Copeland
-
Brian McKinney
-
Ann Pitman Runnion
-
Susan Schultz
-
Beth Spegal