Risky Teen Behavior: What Are We Doing Right and What Can We Improve?

Hi all, 

Welcome to Audience Engagement: The Key to Successful Prevention Methods. My name is Shir Attias. I'm currently a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. When I'm not at school, or, as of February, pursuing my Senior Research Project, I spend most of my days at my dance studio, Diverse Elements, where I am a member of the Elite Competition Team. Aside from dance, I am heavily involved with the North American Federation of Temple Youth, where I currently serve as the Religious and Cultural Vice President of the Southwest Region. I'm almost as obsessed with fried rice and coffee ice cream as I am with Grey's Anatomy. Small communities are definitely my thing. I'm very lucky to have found home in the intimate Jewish community and in my small (but mighty) graduating class of 86 seniors at BASIS Scottsdale. Thus, giving back to the community is an integral part of my life, and I'm looking forward to continuing to do so through my Senior Research Project (SRP). 

You may be asking yourself "What is this SRP she keeps talking about?" 

Starting the closing of my last trimester of senior year, I will begin interning with Not My Kid, a non-profit in Phoenix, Arizona who's mission is to "empower and educate youth, families, and communities with the knowledge and courage to identify and prevent negative youth behavior". If you would like more information about Not My Kid, feel free to head to their website http://notmykid.org/ .

As an intern for Not My Kid, I will be working closely with the staff and volunteers to help put on presentations around Arizona and to conduct research both in the office and at the sites of the presentations. While in the office, I will be doing an in-depth review of the current research and relevant literature that has been done regarding what makes prevention presentations effective. At the presentations, I will be observing the teens and adults reactions to each presentation, and recording observations so that I may compare each presentation. Additionally, I will be administering surveys both before the presentation and after the presentation.  The pre-presentation survey will assess how receptive the participants are before the presentation and will, collect data on the participant's’ age, gender, background, socioeconomic status, identification, etc. The post-presentation survey will re-assess what effect the presentation had on the participants. Thus, two levels of research will be conducted. One will measure receptiveness and engagements and the other will gather data on demographic information, knowledge gained from the presentation, and the likelihood that the participant thinks they will engage in future risky behavior.  By the end of my internship and research, I will produce a thoughtful and cohesive presentation explaining what factors make preventative intervention presentations most effective and which topics were most successful.

If you would like more information regarding the methodology or purpose of my research, my Senior Research Project Proposal can be found here .

I'm incredibly excited to start immersing myself in this project and can't wait to share it with all of you as I delve into it over the next three months.

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