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It all started with a poster, a friend, and a need for some community service hours.
Youth Action Advisory Board (YAAB) member and soon to be Masco junior Belle DiCarlo is happy she noticed that poster in the high school hallway almost 3 years ago. The fall of Belle’s 9th grade year Tri-Town Council’s (TTC) youth substance use prevention Coalition, “The Coalition”, was hosting a “data dive” at Masco. This afternoon event, on an early release day, invited high school youth to dig into the latest Masco Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results. To Belle, a data dive sounded interesting even though she wasn’t quite sure what she’d be doing, so she and her friend signed up. Little did she know then, but that decision would open up unexpected paths to learning, service, fun and new leadership opportunities.
That first data dive meeting led to another and then another, eventually leading Belle and her fellow data dive participants to present the YRBS results during the Coalition’s Community Conversation the following January. Through these experiences, Belle was able to use her voice to engage in community driven, meaningful work. She wanted more opportunities like this one and decided at the start of her sophomore year to officially join YAAB. This group of high school youth work in parallel with the Coalition on reducing and preventing youth substance use. YAAB’s work brings youth voice, education, fun, and opportunities for youth to connect with others doing similar work in their schools and communities to the Coalition’s prevention efforts.
Belle joined new and veteran high school YAAB members, who met regularly after school on Wednesdays, to learn together and plan different events to support healthy choices and healthy living. Based on their understanding of the YRBS data, and knowing that rates of anxiety and depression were ticking up, YAAB wanted to focus on supporting mental health and well-being as a way to prevent substance use. They kicked off the school year hosting early morning teas for Masco students, serving hot cups of different tea varieties, while promoting the health benefits of tea and healthy stress reduction strategies. With the success of YAAB’s teas, Masco's food service team started serving it with the morning breakfast.
Knowing the value of connecting with other like-minded youth engaged in similar substance use prevention work, TTC youth programs coordinator and YAAB adult advisor Dawn Seymour activated YAAB’s chapter with The 84. The 84 is a youth focused program of the Massachusetts Department of Public health. Its name hails from the 84% of youth who did not smoke cigarettes when the movement formed back in the 90’s. With 97% of youth now reporting they don’t use cigarettes and 84% not vaping, it speaks to the impact engaging youth in prevention work can have. Through their youth chapters, the 84 trains and empowers young leaders on how to educate their peers and adults about the tobacco and vaping industries’ delusory marketing tactics, helps them to create change locally and statewide to reduce the influence of tobacco in their communities, and hosts workshops and statewide learning events.
This past January, YAAB participated in The 84’s Annual Youth Power Summit in Worcester. Belle and 3 other YAAB members attended with Dawn and TTC’s Coalition Coordinator Nicole Gregoire-Allis. The event, organized each year by the Statewide Leadership Team (SLT) - a group of 20 high school youth leaders selected by the 84 to plan and lead prevention and advocacy events, was attended by over 100 Massachusetts youth. Belle and her fellow YAAB members learned more about how to be community champions, networked with other youth, and were reminded they were not alone in their efforts to fight against the tobacco and vaping industries. After the summit Dawn remarked, “the teens enjoyed attending and connecting with other youth. They were horrified when they learned of the tobacco industries deceptive marketing tactics and left feeling informed and empowered." Dawn continued, "most importantly, they left feeling like they could make a difference in their communities.” For Belle, attending the youth power summit left an impression, especially seeing other high schoolers - teens her age - in a leadership role. She was enlivened as she participated in workshops and activities led by youth on the SLT. Belle shared, “I saw how the youth on the statewide leadership team were in charge of putting it together, and I was inspired. An idea popped into my head that I might be able to be part of that organization.” A seed was planted that day in her mind.
A few weeks later YAAB attended the 84’s annual Kick Butts Day - a national day of education and advocacy around preventing youth tobacco use. On Kick Butts Day, young people from communities across Massachusetts come to Boston, attend a leadership development training at the Statehouse, and meet with their local senators and representatives to talk about tobacco prevention. That experience cemented Belle’s desire to think bigger and be part of a group making statewide impact. Belle reflected, “I knew I wanted to be involved more. That day further pushed me to want to join the statewide leadership team.”
Belle knows that YAAB’s work in the Tri-Town is making a difference. She thinks her experience of being part of the Statewide Leadership Team, reaching many communities and supporting hundreds of youth leaders, will help magnify YAAB’s impact and expand its access to resources. Belle’s experience, “being a high schooler and seeing what my peers do and how they are affected by substance use” will prove invaluable. When asked how what she’s noticed in the community will inform her work on the SLT, Belle acknowledges hope and articulates her concerns. “I think we are doing better (with substance use), but I think there’s still a big portion of students who do get involved with it. I think substance use is about peer pressure but also it’s about connecting too… (for some) using substances is a way to connect with friends I think. And also just the stress of high school. I feel like a lot of people don’t know how to deal with their stress so they resort to substance use.”
Belle hopes to use her voice and place on The 84’s statewide leadership team to make a difference. She feels that expanding her world and growing her network beyond the Tri-Town will help YAAB continue to evolve. She feels that working with other Massachusetts youth and learning from their experiences will help her bring more strategies and resources back to YAAB and the Tri-Town. She also thinks it will help YAAB connect with a greater number of The 84’s chapters. She hopes that as a leadership team member she can help foster communication between chapters and help share strategies that different chapters are using to fight the tobacco and vaping industries. “I’m really excited to build a bigger community with the statewide team. I’m also excited to get more involved, interact with the state representatives more, and share my own ideas.”
What’s next? Belle will be attending a leadership retreat in August where she will meet the other youth members of the SLT. In September she will begin attending weekly Zoom meetings to help plan The 84’s events and programs for the upcoming school year. As she readies herself for her new role, Belle reflects back on how she got to this point. “One choice can really make a big impact on the rest of your high school career. Me joining YAAB, first by going to that data dive, led to me eventually joining the Statewide Leadership team.” Her advice to other young people who want to make an impact in the community? “Be open to taking risks to get into new opportunities. It’s ok to not like an activity, but just try it to see if you might like it.” You might be excited by the unexpected opportunities that could result!
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