Local students use their creativity against drugs, peer pressure and alcohol

From radio spots to billboard advertising, several area students are using their creativity to market their attitudes toward alcohol and drug use.

Southeast Missouri State University freshman Nic Barna, a Jackson High School graduate, is a member of the Southeast Missouri Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Several large billboards in the area now represent his feelings on peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol. Barna created a slogan, "Make Your Own Path," which is how he has always thought about peer pressure, he said.

"I've always tried to live like that and make my own decisions," he said.

Barna's slogan made it onto a billboard when Above the Influence, a national anti-drug and alcohol campaign aimed at teens, chose it as one of 25 winning slogans in a nationwide contest and had it incorporated into an art design by a professional advertising agency. The campaign also developed posters and framed pictures of the slogan. The framed pictures of the design will be delivered to U.S. Congressional members to let them know about the local community's participation in the campaign, according to Shelly Wood, project coordinator for the coalition.

Wood said the coalition has developed a new partnership with the campaign, which is resulting in recognition of its members for being positive influences among their peers. The slogan contest is part of "Be It," a project developed by the campaign and started in the coalition in 2011. Youth that participate in the project develop their own brand to represent how they see themselves and how they want others to see them, Wood said.

Two other coalition members, including Barna's brother Jacob, a sophomore at Jackson High School, and Mackenzie Moore, a seventh-grader at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School, recently participated in radio interviews to share their slogans and thoughts on the project. About 25 other local youths are also being recognized in some way for their participation, Wood said.

Jacob Barna's slogan, "Just Change It," means that it doesn't make any sense to do what others are doing if you don't think it's right, he said. He said he applies that attitude to drug and alcohol use.

Moore said her slogan, "Be Active," is about her involvement with sports -- she wants to inspire others to find something positive to do related to sports instead of seeing them turn to drug and alcohol use for fun, she said.

Another member, Jackson High School senior Tyler Gholson, said his own participation in the coalition and the project has helped him learn where boundary lines are when it comes to peer pressure, and those are positive thoughts he will take with him when he goes to college next year.

eragan@semissourian.com

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