Survey Says: Drug, Alcohol Prevention
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Photo courtesy of Scott Norcott
Fifth-graders from Bellerose Avenue, Dickinson Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Norwood Avenue, and Ocean Avenue Elementary schools tested their drug and alcohol knowledge in a game of Family Feud on Monday night.
By David Weber
info@longislandergroup.com
Students from Northport-East Northport school district participated in a unique game of “Family Feud” Monday night to learn about substance abuse and prevention.
Over 200 fifth-graders and their parents attended the event, which was held at the W.J. Brosnan building in Northport and drew over 200 students.
It was sponsored by the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force, a group of public service officials committed to ending substance abuse through education and positive reinforcement. The group’s goal is to end the lasting stigma that childhood is too early to adopt a ‘too good for drugs’ frame of mind.
Task Force Chairman Anthony Ferrandino aggregated the answers to 41 of the most popular questions on substance abuse for the game using web-based polling website Surveymonkey.com.
“We wanted to engage fifth-grade students in a fun way to speak about drug and alcohol prevention,” Ferrandino said. “I think we definitely accomplished that goal.”
Students were split into six teams based on which elementary school they attend, Bellerose, Dickinson, Fifth, Norwood, or Ocean Avenue. One by one, each student approached a podium at the front of the room answered general-knowledge questions related to abuse prevention.
Points were awarded for guessing the most popular answers on the board. Prizes were given to participants who answered the most questions correctly, including movie tickets, mini golf passes, gift cards, and sporting goods.
The grand prize, a Healthy Choice Award trophy, was given to Fifth Avenue Elementary School for answering the most questions correctly.
Ferrandino was shocked by how much information the students knew prior to the event.
“I was truly impressed that most of the kids knew that the reason why you need to be at least 21 to drink is because their brain was not fully developed,” Ferrandino added.
For its next event, the Task Force plans to partner with Youth Directions and Alternatives for the group’s eighth-annual barbecue that’s slated for July 29. A location had yet to be determined as of deadline Wednesday.
