The KEYS Alliance acts as a prevention (not therapy) program for youth to offer a variety of resources on safety, healthy life styles, leadership, communication skills, and an opportunity to meet other people in their communities who share the ideals of a safe, drug free, and crime free life.
Objective 1: Youth act as change agents in their communities by working on campaigns in their schools and communities such as National Teen Driving Safety Month, Celebrate My Drive, Red Ribbon Week, Crime Prevention Month, Celebrate Safe Communities, National Teen Driver Safety Week, and others.
Objective 2: Youth go beyond just saying “No” to embrace a more complete and effective strategy to prevent harmful/unsafe/violent behavior and promote healthy communities.
Objective 3: Youth can safely report issues in their communities and schools anonymously without fear of retaliation; this program encourages the development of responsibility to themselves, their schools, and their communities. They participate in a valuable extracurricular activity, while they benefit from a reduction in incidents on campus and enjoy an increased dense of security in their schools, homes, and neighborhoods.
Purpose & Impact: Youth that decide to say yes or no to an issue are influenced by their environment, including social norms, media messages, accessibility, and laws, rules, and policies. When youth become involved in efforts such as these, they not only help their community; they help themselves grow into productive members of society. All things considered, we would rather have an anonymous good student citizen, who can safely report crime solving or preventative information, or advocate to their peers on various issues, than a grieving school and community following a violent or needless tragedy on campus or in their community that could have been prevented had there been a program in place.
