11 September 2007

Year 10-12 students of Glen Innes High School will have the opportunity to hear a number of presentations about what they can do to protect themselves and their friends, when it comes to driving, teenage parties and mental illness.

This special event, being held on Friday 21 September at Glen Innes RSL, is being sponsored by Inverell Community Drug Action Team, School Liaison Police and Hunter New England Health, in an effort to help young adults to look after themselves.

Special guest speaker, Roger Snaith from the Sydney based group ‘Enough is Enough’ will be speaking on responsible driving, drawing on his personal experience of his own 17 year old daughter who was killed by a drunk and drugged driver.

Mr Snaith co-founded the division of ‘Enough is Enough’ which deals with assisting and educating victims and offenders of road trauma and runs his own Business and Behaviour Management Consultancy.

Students will also hear from Senior Constable Ron Halliday from School Liaison Police on safe teenage parties, drugs and alcohol. Staying within the law is one thing, staying safe by being prepared is quite another.

The final event of the day will be a screening of the Hope Awards to coincide with Mental Health Week, which is coming up on the 7-13 October.

The Hope Awards is a short film competition, piloted in 2005/06, which aims to help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. The initiative seeks to counter inaccurate, stereotypical and negative images of people who experience mental illness, by encouraging the creation of more accurate, realistic and optimistic portrayals.

Coordinator of the event, Primary Health Care Nurse, Kirsty MacDougall, said they are very fortunate to have Roger Snaith coming to Glen Innes.

“He will be speaking to school students in Inverell on Thursday, and to parents on Thursday evening as part of the Managing Teenage Parties program. Glen Innes parents are also welcome to attend the Inverell program,” she said.

For further information about either program, please contact Kirsty at Glen Innes Community Health Centre on 6739 0100.

Contact: Kay Cope

Phone: 6776 9817