Telling It Like It Is: Alaska Native Youth Talk About Substance Abuse
Fairbanks, AK
KUAC and the Fairbanks Native Association (FNA) selected four young Native Alaskans, all of whom are current or former participants in FNA's substance abuse treatment programs, to produce their own substance abuse and recovery stories. KUAC and FNA hope successful programming will increase public understanding of youth substance abuse and encourage dialogue on the subject. Outreach aids this goal by fostering peer-to-peer discussions and by empowering students to take action in personally meaningful ways.
With training and support from KUAC, the young producers gathered sound and then wrote, edited, and produced stories for Alaska Edition, a daily public affairs show. The stories aired during a month of coordinated programming that included a discussion of substance abuse on Evening Rounds, a locally produced call-in health show, and Alaska Edition, which aired each of the personal stories, one per week. KUAC also worked with the Alaska Public Radio Network's Talk of Alaska to dedicate one of the statewide call-in shows to the topic.
Outreach involved visits to middle and high schools in Fairbanks where the young producers told their stories and discussed substance abuse with students.
Together, producers and students developed and implemented an action plan to combat youth substance abuse. After one such visit with youth involved in a drug-free program, a youth producer was inspired to write a play, �To Be Drug Free,� that revolves around one student's revelation that his peers were supporting his parents' drug dependency. The play was incorporated into future outreach plans of being performed by local high school drama clubs.
Both organizations found the partnership beneficial and recognized the individual strengths they bring to such a project—the power radio has to engage and mobilize its community, and the weight of the community
organization's internal and external resources—all of which contributed to the success of Telling It Like It Is.
Contact Information
KUAC-FM
Amy Mayer, Host/Producer
Tel: 907-452-5882