Since September, more than 50 Western Massachusetts high school students have spent countless hours tackling serious issues, including vaping, sexual assault and bullying, with the district attorney’s office.
But their ideas and concerns didn’t stay in the meeting room. The teens worked to bring their projects to their peers.
“They’re talking to their peers. They’re talking to younger kids about these critical issues, and it’s such a valuable resource as a part of my office,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said to an audience Thursday at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
More than 50 Western Massachusetts high school students have spent countless hours tackling serious issues, including vaping, sexual assault and bullying, with the district attorney’s office.Heather Morrison
An event at the Basketball Hall of Fame honored the 55 students from 24 different schools for being part of this year’s Youth Advisory Board.
The students, grades 10-12, were split up into seven teams for different topics, including substance use, social media, mental health and healthy relationships. The students create projects on their topics, including cook books, murals and videos. The students then present their projects at the annual conference and provide their recommendations to representatives from school, law enforcement and community groups.
“These kids are truly our future. They’re our leaders, not only locally, but globally — just amazing young people,” Gulluni said. “They give me a lot of hope.”
Some of the topics were heavy. But students shared how they affected them and their peers — they’ve known people who have overdosed, parents who have died from suicide or classmates who were sexually assaulted.
“This is real stuff,” Gulluni said. But he added the students are “capable. They’re strong, and they really are intent on making a difference.”
One of the students, Joi-Lee Key-Washington, 17, a senior at Springfield Central High School, spoke about the issues her peers are facing with vaping and other drugs.
Jaelle Dyer and Joi-Lee Key-Washington were two students part of the Hampden District Attorney Youth Advisory Board. They both go to Springfield Central High school.Heather Morrison
The number one place students are seeing their peer use substances, such as vaping, are at school — classrooms, bathrooms and hallways. This came from polling 191 of her peers. The second was social media and the third was at parties.
“That’s what our youth are being exposed to every single day,” she told the crowd.
Nearly half of the students she spoke with said schools aren’t doing enough to educate students on peer pressure and substance use.
“That tells us something is missing,” she told the crowd.
She told the crowd this issue “demands our attention, action and understanding.”
More than 50 Western Massachusetts high school students have spent countless hours tackling serious issues, including vaping, sexual assault and bullying, with the district attorney’s office.Heather Morrison
The group also created a nearly 40-page document to help parents understand some of these issues with substance abuse.
“I think parents don’t know where they are hidden, how they are used, how they smell, and in what forms they are in because they are in various forms,“ Key-Washington told MassLive. ”So, in our guide we broke down how they look, how they work, where people hide them, just to create awareness and education and emphasize support and education.”
Key-Washington one day hopes to work with the FBI. She’ll be starting at Western New England University on a full-ride scholarship to major in criminal justice. Until then, it’s this type of insight that informs the district attorney’s office.
“If I have one important job, it’s to protect kids,” Gulluni said. ”So, this helps us protect kids, especially those kids in high schools across Hampden County.”
For all the projects, click here.
