A key way to deal with problems that arise in adolescence is through proper education, said Bill Day, education director for Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP).
And that is exactly what ALCAP seeks to do through its training programs, which are taught in more than 700 schools each year.
“We feel like if you’re going to reach that adult, you have to do it in the formative years,” Day said. “So we try to get in as early as we can to teach values that are important.”
Unfortunately church participation in the training programs is not quite what he wishes it were, he said, noting that the programs are presented in less than a dozen churches each year.
“Churches will not face up to the reality that there is a responsibility to educate kids [in addition to] what’s being done in schools,” Day said, citing a Monitoring the Future report conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research that pointed out that the church should be “a key arena in which drug education takes place.”
Churches should formulate an approach to teach children they do not have to make bad choices, he said. And that is why ALCAP exists.
By partnering with churches, ALCAP can offer training in 14 areas, including drugs, alcohol, tobacco, character development and gambling.
“The major source (of help) that is available to a young person” is the local church, Day said. “If they’re providing something like these awareness and prevention modules, then kids in that area have something to turn to.”
He said ALCAP is flexible and will teach sessions on Sunday or Wednesday evenings, provide after-school programs or even host summer-long activities at churches.
“And if that’s not something that’s good for some local churches, we can do it in the association. … For any variety of presentations in any creative way, we’re willing to help.”
For more information, visit www.alcap.com or call 205-985-9062.
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