Description
1. SUMMARY Stopping Drugs Tobacco,, Violence and Alcohol in Today's Society. Given the recent outbreak of violence in schools across the nation, it is becoming more and more evident that our next generation is out of control. Government, schools and communities are mobilizing to regain some sense of order, but solutions imposed by elders have little impact: rebellion is the traditional order of the day for every younger generation and additional rules and restrictions have only a limited chance of success unless the fight is carried into the camp of younger warriors and the battle given an attraction unique to their place and time. SAY NO, STOP NOW! Inc, a non profit organization, has created a unifying program tailored to the interests of this troubled generation. The program is designed to pull the entire high school/junior high school population & Youth out of school across the nation into a zero tolerance movement based on music, artistry, and self expression. The goal of the program is to involve all students in some aspect of the movement; the theme is zero tolerance for Drugs, Tobacco, Alcohol, Violence, and any other negative influence which interferes with a safe and acceptable learning environment; the medium is a competitive music and poetry program which capitalizes on the popularity of music among all teenagers. While the general guidelines and overall coordination will be set at the professional level, the goal of the program is to involve all students in some aspect of the movement and to popularize a non-destructive form of behaviour within this age group. At the beginning of the program, every teenager across the country will express himself/herself in a poem or song with a connection to the zero tolerance theme. All poems will be judged, the best 20 set to music, performed across each State, with the winners moving on to represent the State in an East Division/West Division competition. These songs will be performed by students: groups or solo artists who compete to be the performers in different cities, and the winners in each Division will compete nationally, in Washington D.C. Students will be supported by professional performers, the competitions will be held in a concert environment, publicized, and popularized. Winners at each level will be rewarded. Perhaps most importantly, zero tolerance violations will draw competitive penalties, encouraging competitors and supporters to police their own environment: a far more effective tool for rooting out the dangerous elements and far less threatening to a young person's self image than a request from parents or teachers to "spy" on one's peers. Support from the adult, professional, and governmental communities -- as well as the media -- will provide a strong and visible link between students and the rest of the country, offer an officially sponsored outlet for the overspill of emotional energy, and create a public forum for the voice of those in the front-line of this war.
