Substance use and abuse by children and adolescents has reached alarming proportions. The evidence is seen in the number of arrests and violence that is reported in our daily media. Television, radio, and newspapers give us daily accounts of drug-related homicides and assaults, many perpetrated by school-age children. Research indicates that when people use and abuse substances they are less aware of their feelings and less able to deal with appropriately with their emotions and actions.

Drug-related crime and the violence in our schools and communities will increase if there is a failure to provide optimum intervention. The most promising strategies involve prevention efforts aimed at reducing known risks and enhancing known buffers. Interventions aimed at changing youth attitudes towards drugs revolve around enhancing social skills, providing information, forming strong attachments to positive adults and peers, and making a clean living environment with safe schools and communities.

The nation's educational system must be prepared to effectively address the internal and external triggers associated with substance use and abuse. Recent studies have determined effective results come from early intervention and education through creative and skillful programming. Several educational specialists suggest appropriate programs will cause a significant downward trend in substance use and abuse among children and adolescents.

The Get The Message Program is a training and awareness program designed to educate and influence the decision making of our youth and young adults not to use illicit drugs and other addictive substances. It is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and adults by providing social "life" skills awareness training. Through collaborative partnerships among public administrators, churches, the business community, and other service providers, Get The Message is able to provide prevention and intervention systems for individuals who may be at risk of or who manifest a problem with substance use and/or abuse.

The Get The Message program employs the use of athletics (specifically basketball) as a vehicle to emphasize teamwork, to utilize everyday school and non-school related exchanges as teachable moments and to form one-to-one and group relationships. The program is also geared towards increasing awareness and providing social (life) skills lectures to college students and participants of adult enrichment and transition programs.

Get The Message has been on the front line, building self-esteem, self-respect, positive attitudes, positive behavior and positive choices in the lives of youth and adults.

Get The Message gives youth "early wins" and sets the stage for self-confidence and future success by reducing known risks through well-structured after school and summer activities, group discussion forums and enhancing known buffers through social skill development.