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From YouTube: NewsMakers: 2nd Chance Program Launch
Description
The Second Chance program allows middle- and high school kids who have been referred to the Juvenile Justice system for substance abuse, to avoid prosecution in favor of participation in an educational program. This press event was held on June 30 2011 in the Arlington County VA Public LIbrary.
A
In
this
edition
of
newsmakers
we'll
attend
a
press
event
announcing
the
launch
of
a
new
program
to
give
middle
and
high
school-age
students
who
have
abused
drugs
or
alcohol
a
second
chance
at
a
healthier
lifestyle
county
board.
Vice
chair,
mary
hines
and
school
board,
chair
abby
raphael
talked
about
why
such
an
initiative
was
deemed
necessary.
C
A
recent
survey
we
found
that
27
percent
of
arlington
8th
graders,
reported
that
they'd
used
alcohol
28
of
our
12th
grade.
Students
tell
us
that
they
engaged
in
binge
drinking
in
just
the
last
month
and
nearly
half
of
our
12th
graders
report
that
they
have
tried
some
kind
of
illegal
drug
and
particularly
troubling,
I
think,
is
the
fact
that
only
56
percent
of
our
12th
grade
students
think
that
regular
marijuana
use
is
harmful.
B
So
we
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
and
we
know
that
it's
not
just
what
the
kids
tell
us.
It's
what
the
scientists
tell
us,
though,
that
makes
us
doubly
concerned.
We
know
a
lot
more
than
we
did
when
we
were
teenagers
about
the
impacts
and
the
effects
of
alcohol
and
drugs
on
the
development
of
the
teenage
brain.
B
B
D
The
second
chance
program
is
a
fantastic
program
that
the
county
has
embraced
in
all
aspects.
It
is
a
three-day
early
intervention
program.
It's
not
a
pure
prevention
program,
it's
for
those
kids
who
have
been
identified
as
early
users
of
alcohol
or
drugs,
and
it
is
designed
to
get
them
back
on
track
to
bring
their
parents
into
the
conversation
and
to
make
a
big
deal
out
of
what
they're
doing
in
their
lives
that
could
affect
them.
Long.
C
Term,
well,
it's
very
different
and,
as
the
name
suggests,
we
want
to
give
students
a
second
chance.
So
if
it
is
their
first
time
being
involved
with
drugs
or
alcohol,
they
can
avoid
the
consequences
of
a
criminal
prosecution
or
a
suspension,
which
is
a
very
serious
thing
to
have
on
their
record
and
go
into
an
education
program.
C
We
really
realize
that
having
students
sit
home
during
a
suspension
and
miss
school
and
be
criminally
prosecuted
is
not
going
to
get
them
necessarily
back
on
track
to
a
healthy
lifestyle
and
what
they
really
need
is
education
and
their
parents
to
be
involved
to
understand
this
and
get
them
back
on
track.
We.
E
Were
one
of
the
original
committee
members
and
we
tried
to
develop
a
program
that
would
take
the
youthful
offender,
who
has
maybe
been
experimented
or
subjected
this
with
a
group
of
his
peers
and
get
them
the
help
they
need,
as
opposed
to
giving
them
a
criminal
record
and
going
through
the
court
system.
So.
F
It's
another
tool
that
law
enforcement
has
that
obviously
parents,
school
administrators
have
to
avoid
the
trauma
and
the
stress
of
criminal
prosecution
and
to
allow
young
people
who
do
get
involved
with
drugs
or
alcohol
and
have
a
first
time
episode
to
go
through
second
chance
and
come
out
with
any
without
any
kind
of
criminal
prosecution.
Well,.
C
The
whole
point
of
this
program
is
that
it's
not
creating
a
record
for
the
student,
the
way
a
suspension
does,
or
certainly
a
criminal
prosecution.
It
is
an
opportunity.
It
is
a
second
chance
for
a
student
to
get
back
on
track
and
so
by
following
them,
we're
following
them
to
help
them
be
successful
throughout
the
year.
My.
D
Hopes
for
the
program
is
that
we
will
get
the
attention
of
the
families.
We
will
get
the
attention
of
the
children
and
it
will
not
be
the
norm
that
kids
are
drinking
a
half
a
fifth
of
vodka,
on
the
weekends
that
it
will
be
something
that
they
understand
can
impact
their
their
lives
their
future
and
that
we
as
a
community
will
support
the
positive
decisions.
So
we
will
see
fewer
kids
using
drugs
and
alcohol,
certainly
to
the
degree
that
they're
using
it.