Youth
www.SanTanSun.com
April 19 - May 2, 2014
25
Not My Kid assists youth with life’s toughest challenges BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON
Not My Kid has been promoting positive life choices by educating youth, families and communities about the consequences of destructive youth behaviors. Debbie and Steve Moak founded the local organization in 1999 after dealing with their son’s substance abuse challenges. Not My Kid, sometimes stylized “notMYkid,” is a well-rounded organization that focuses on six core areas of challenges—drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, unhealthy relationships, eating disorders, depression/self injury and Internet safety. “We’re primarily a local organization,” says Shane Watson, Not My Kid’s communications manager. “We do our inperson presentations locally throughout the state of Arizona. By the end of this school year we will be in about 300 schools. We have a national DVD program that organizations and schools outside of the state have purchased.” Schools reach out to the organization, or vice versa. “Sometimes schools are able to pay for the program themselves, some schools absolutely don’t have the budget for it,” Watson explains “We’ve managed to get grants from private donors and we’ve gotten grants from organizations like the Arizona Diamondbacks. They gave us a really generous $100,000 grant last year to fund
bullying prevention programs. It’s because of that grant that we’ve been able to get into more schools than ever before to do our anti-bullying presentation.” Chandler resident Anthony (last name withheld for safety purposes) is a 25-year-old amplified peer educator. He speaks to schools about his selfdestructive behaviors and how he learned to overcome his challenges. “I go to schools all over Arizona and I share my personal story with students so they can learn from some of the mistakes I made in my life on some very important topics,” Anthony says. “I give them resources and tools so they can make some positive life choices.” He moved around a lot as a youngster and went to 10 different schools. Anthony struggled and dealt with bullying issues, depression and suicide attempts. In college, he sought help for his problems and subsequently graduated with honors from ASU with a psychology degree. He encourages others to seek the help they need and that, indeed, it is OK to ask for help. “We are the only organization that has peer-to-peer education going on, so students feel much more comfortable with us there,” Anthony says. “When that happens, they are more likely to come up to us and share their personal stories.” With an open dialogue, Anthony is
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NOT MY KID: The Not My Kid staff, peer educators and TV personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, at center, right. Submitted photo
then able to direct children to get the help they need. Peer educators are not trained counselors. Instead, they are safe and understanding people who understand struggles. The annual Not My Kid fundraiser will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Virginia G. Piper Sports and Fitness Center in Phoenix. “A Taste of Discovery” event is presented by Discovery Land Company with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting Not My Kid’s prevention education programs. The evening will include dinner and drinks, a presentation from Not My Kid, an auction and a raffle. The raffle will include vacation packages to special destinations located in “owned” vacation communities that are not available to the general public.
The featured vacation packages include four nights at Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club (Abaco, Bahamas), four nights at El Dorado Golf and Beach Club (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), six nights at Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho), five nights at Makena Golf and Beach Club (Maui, Hawaii) and four nights at Yellowstone Club (Big Sky, Mont.). Raffle tickets are $50 or $100 for three and can be purchased online. Winner need not be present to win. For more information, call (602) 6520163 or visit www.notmykid.org. Lynette Carrington is a freelancer for the San Tan Sun News. She can be reached at lynette@santansun.com