Thursday: Community Coalition Meeting B-BP High School

Parents, school district staff and Parent-Teacher Associations have been involved in discussions regarding the possible formation of a Bayport-Blue Point Community Coalition that will focus on prevention strategies for keeping alcohol and drugs out of the hands of underage youth.

The first meeting is scheduled for this evening, Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. 

Blue Point parent Robin McKinnon has experience establishing such organizations in other communities. As a prevention strategist at Long Island Prevention Resource Center's Suffolk location in Amityville, McKinnon has a vast knowledge of the type of decisions children and adolescents face on an everyday basis when it comes to pressure from their peers, and others.

"The issue of underage drinking is huge," McKinnon said. "There are 22 community coalitions in Suffolk County that have formed to try to do something about it."

Bayport-Blue Point High School Principle Timothy Hearney organized a at the high school in January. More recently, Hearney held a pre-prom meeting to discuss issues that teens might face in the midst of the event.

Hearney said the coalition fits the theme of what he's been trying to do for the last couple of years: Be proactive and bring awareness to students and parents.

"This is not just about alcohol and drugs, it's about the decisions that we make and how they can impact us long term," Hearney said. "We talked about forming a coalition to discuss what we could do as a community and as a school."

Susan Schartner, who was also was involved in organizing the meeting, said the coalition could bring awareness to social hosting laws, and educate parents on how poor decisions could affect the health and the risks to local youth.

"What better way to work for a community goal of keeping our children safe, risk free and healthy, than to work with other B-BP parents with the same common goal?" she said in an e-mail.

McKinnon puts emphasis on a child's growing brain and body. She said research shows that the brain is not fully developed until age 25 or 26. The priority of the coalition above all is awareness on behalf and both parents and students.

"It's really key to focus on kids' health and safety," she said.

Hearney thinks a community coalition may help prevent parents and students from making decisions that could have a negative effect on them.

"We don't want to do something because something bad happens, we try to be proactive and prevent bad things from happening," he said.