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My Neighbor's Keeper Alliance, USA

Create a drug-free home one neighbor, one parent, one child at a time

Problem statement

Today’s youth are smarter, creative, innovative, inclusive, technologically advanced, and explorative. Today’s youth is also very open to attempting and misusing alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, prescription pills and more which can slow the development of an adolescent brain and significantly reduce the potential of becoming who God has created them to be. MyKNA, USA aims at sensitizing and empowering youths with tools and resources to SAY NO TO DRUGS!

One of the most powerful counterweights to substance use and one of the most powerful prevention strategies is to provide students with the challenging and rewarding experiences that education can provide. If students become very engaged and passionate and rewarded by something challenging, they might not have time to be distracted by something like substance use that can take them off their path.

Dr. Amelia M. Arria, Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development and the Office of Planning and Evaluation at the University of Maryland School of Public HealthTweet

EACH DAY

3300 youth try marijuana, & about 6300 try alcohol for the first time

1 IN 6

Adolescents aged 12-17 report binge drinking in the past month.

144%

Is the suicide rate among 10 to 17 year olds who are Black

50%

Of 10th & 12th graders said they had tried vaping

8 year old

Is the earliest age of onset for social media use among children

The Solution

In the last decade, fewer youth were reported to misusing alcohol and harmful substances. However, the COVID-19 pandemic erased most of this decline, worsened the existing substance misuse crisis in the United States and created an emergent wave of mental health illness especially among children of color. This has led to many adolescents (especially within the minority community) engaging in misuse and abuse of alcohol, illicit substances, and disproportionately impacted by mental illness. This nonprofit was started to sensitize parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators and others on their roles in keeping kids alcohol and drug-free. We believe that adolescents who have a good bond with an adult are less likely to engage in risky behaviors and espouse the fact that prevention begins with parenting.