FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2022
Monterey County Friday Night Live
Lesa Rubalcava
lesa@epicentermonterey.org
831-800-3066
Through the Pandemic, Young People Mobilize to Make a Difference
Young people in the Monterey County Friday Night Live (FNL) are a blazing force of positive change in Monterey County. Friday Night Live, a California program started in 1984, is a youth development program that promotes healthy lifestyles free of alcohol, tobacco, or other substance use among youth.
According to an article by the National Institutes of Health, adolescent alcohol use remained steady during the pandemic despite barriers caused by the stay-at-home orders and youth not being of age to purchase alcohol legally (2021). FNL youth members are working to address the environmental conditions, specifically social norms that promote underage drinking and youth access to alcohol.
Monterey County Friday Night Live will set off on a year-long campaign to tackle the issue of underage drinking by shifting social norms and perceptions of youth alcohol use. Through their Positive Social Norms Campaign, FNL members have launched a multi-media initiative to highlight the stories of their peers who are choosing healthy behaviors and remaining alcohol-free to encourage others to do the same.
According to the Seventeenth Biennial California Student Survey 2017-19, more than 80% of California 11th graders have not consumed alcohol in the last 30 days. FNL youth are spreading their message high and low throughout the community. Students developed social media messages, youth-targeted posters, adult-targeted educational materials, and public service announcements to promote healthy behaviors, safe alternatives for fun, and healthy coping mechanisms. In addition to the positive social norm messages, youth will educate community members and students on the risks and dangers of underage drinking.
“To me Friday Night Live means family and it has helped me be closer to my community.“
– Veronica, Friday Night Live PYC Chapter Member
“Friday Night Live has made me feel like an engaged leader in my community.”
– Alexandra, Friday Night Live PYC Chapter Member
“To me Friday Night Live means somewhere I can be comfortable, make new friends, and be myself.”
– Chinemerem, Friday Night Live – Soledad High School Chapter Member
“Friday Night Live to me is my safe place, where no thought or word is denied, truly a familial
organization.”
– Gabriel, Friday Night Live PYC Chapter Member
Prevention Youth Council FNL youth are part of a unified effort of young people in forty-two counties across California to reduce underage drinking. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For more information about Friday Night Live, visit fridaynightlive.org.