SADD

MEMBERS

The MCHS SADD Organization is a primary prevention program that enlists the power of peer influence to help teenagers cope with the universal, everyday problems and pressures of becoming adults. It addresses important transitions in young people’s lives by building into our school an important set of rituals and practices that reinforce healthy values in students and encourage critical thinking. The SADD Organization offers a variety of large and small group experiences that create a special bond among peers. This kind of team-building is the essential foundation of a strong, diverse, and democratic society.

Young people have an urgent need to be accepted by their peers and to be members of a group that both supports and reinforces their personal identity at a time of life when physical and emotional changes can affect self-esteem. When rapid and fundamental change is also occurring in society at large, the personal stresses of moving from childhood to adulthood are compounded. In addition to the common anxieties and fears that adolescents experience, substantial numbers of teenagers are affected by the more devastating consequences of dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, drug addition, homicide, and suicide (Feldman & Elliott, 1990).