By Paola Velasco
Planet Youth is based on the Icelandic Prevention Model for reducing youth substance abuse. It has been tested in more than 20 countries around the world and has been adopted in San Miguel de Allende since 2020. The program is backed by scientific evidence, including recent local data and public policies based on community work.
Addictions are a public health problem. The main challenge is finding prevention policies, for which Planet Youth is a watershed. It identifies risk and protection factors using a survey titled «Youth and Well-being,” which is applied every two years to students in the third year of both public and private high schools. The survey provides information to implement actions by generating a community of adults to help children and adolescents. The methodology emphasizes identifying the main social determinants that affect risk factors in the family, the neighborhood, the school, and the community. It also helps to diagnose the problems and find social solutions at the local level through citizen participation.
Who participates?
The state government, the 46 municipalities of the state of Guanajuato, including San Miguel de Allende, associations, and civil organizations. Planet Youth seeks to increase those factors that protect young people in the municipality of San Miguel, focusing on four fundamental pillars: family, school, peer group effect (friends), and community. They do this by following these goals:
● More parental control
● Spending more time with the children and discussing personal issues
● Not allowing consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs at parties and social activities before the age of 18
● Increase alternative leisure activities—sports, culture, religious groups, etc.
● Promote social cohesion
● Inform the parents of the municipality about the psychosocial risks to which their children are exposed.
Research or observation results
The municipality of San Miguel has a total population of 174,615, of which 48,336 people are under 18 years of age. During 2021, a total of 2,609 young people in the third year of secondary school, from public and private schools, participated in the 2021 Youth and Well-being survey (1,212 men and 1,393 women; four did not define their sex). The results of the survey revealed that 11.8% of those surveyed have been drunk at least once in their lives; 12.5% tried alcohol before the age of 13; 2.3% have consumed it in their own homes; and 2.8% get it from a family member. In terms of cigarette consumption, 6.4% tried them before the age of 13, and 0.8% smoke daily. On the other hand, 4.9% have used marijuana at some time in their life.
Regarding relationships with their parents, young people report that seven out of 10 spend time with their children on weekends, and only six out of 10 during the week. More statistics are that 90.2% of parents know where their children are at night, and 82.6% of students report that it is easy to receive affection from their parents. Young people reported that to avoid being left out of the group of friends, it is necessary to consume alcohol (5.2%), smoke cigarettes (4.6%), and use marijuana (3.5%). On the other hand, only 7 out of 10 students feel safe at school, and 65.9% think that the adults in the school care about what happens to them. Of the people who have a low attitude towards studies, 13.4% have gotten drunk in the last 30 days.
In relation to free time, only 16.9% practice some sport; 14.3% of young people spend three hours or more playing video games; and 31.6% of young people spend three hours or more on social networks. In matters of well-being in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, 79.3% of adolescents feel strong and healthy, and 84.5% of the young people surveyed feel happy.
