Youth promotion
Drug Info provides community information about alcohol and other drugs to suit a range of different audiences, including young people.
It is important for young people to have access to information to help them make informed choices about alcohol and other drugs. Adolescence is a period of significant brain development, which can be impacted by the use of alcohol and other drugs.
Public libraries play an important role in the lives of many young people through the collections, spaces and programs they provide. We encourage public libraries to run educational activities about alcohol and other drugs – either as standalone events or as an additional activity for other library events.
When to promote
HSC & Schoolies Week
The HSC study period is a time when young people typically spend a lot of time in the library preparing for their exams and socialising. It is also a time when school leavers are preparing for Schoolies Week and other celebrations, so it is a great time to remind young people about the importance of being informed about alcohol and other drugs.
Youth Week
Many libraries are involved in events and activities during Youth Week. With young people in the library taking part in events as well as attending council-run youth fairs and other outreach events, Youth Week is an opportunity to promote Drug Info and provide young people with quality information about alcohol and other drugs.
General youth activities
Drug Info’s resources can be used year-round, and can be incorporated into many library youth events. See our Know Your Standards and Know Your Drug Facts program pages for great ideas and resources.
Activities and promotion
- Drug Info promotional material
Drug Info provides you with postcards, pocket cards, showbags and other material to promote information about alcohol and other drugs to your community.
Distribute Drug Info promotional material to students at your HSC study or youth events. In addition to the Drug Info promotional material, you can fill showbags with other library promotional resources, healthy snacks or other fun treats and prizes.
Sign up to the Drug Info email list for news on upcoming promotions.
- Literary mocktails
Drug Info’s collection of literary mocktails make a delicious alcohol-free accompaniment to any library event. Host a mocktail making session or simply serve up one of our recipes as a refreshment at your youth event and give away our promotional recipe cards. Go to the Mocktails page for other ideas and resources.
- Drug Fact Finder quiz
The Drug Fact Finder is an interactive tablet-based display featuring colourful images and facts about 16 different drugs.
Display the Drug Fact Finder QR-code quiz poster on your library’s study desks, and give out showbags to students who complete the quiz. If your HSC event includes trivia or other games, include a round of Drug fact questions.
- Know Your Standards activities
Each NSW public library service has been supplied with a standard drink educational pouring and display kit (resin kit) as part of the Know Your Standards program. The Know Your Standards toolkit provides instructions and suggested activities around standard drink
awareness. Include a standard drinks session as one of the activities at your HSC event.- Schoolies Week display
Promote Drug Info to your school leavers with a Schoolies Week display in a prominent position in your library during November as a reminder of the importance of partying safely. Display posters and distribute Drug Info promotional material.
- Find more about Drug Info displays on the Delivering Drug Info page
- Youth fairs and festivals
Promote Drug Info at your library’s Youth Week stall. Distribute promotional material and showbags, run standard drinks demonstrations or other activities using Drug Info resources.
- Videos
Play Drug Info videos on library display screens, or show during youth-focused library events. You can also promote these videos on your library’s social media channels.
Alcohol: Get the Facts
This video, produced in partnership with the NSW Ministry of Health, shows some of the long-term effects of alcohol.
Respect Your Brain
The Respect Your Brain animated video series from NSW Health focuses on the impact of five drugs commonly used in Australia and explores the way these drugs affect a young person’s developing brain.
Respect Your Brain series: https://yourroom.health.nsw.gov.au/getting-help/Pages/Respect-Your-Brain.aspx
Looking for more ideas?
Use the Drug Info Activity Booklet for inspiration. The activity booklet features a range of suggestions for incorporating Drug Info into your library programming.
Social media
Facebook and other forms of social media are effective methods of communication. You could use these channels to provide links to useful online resources in order to reinforce the messages and to support people to make informed decisions and choices about drugs and alcohol.
Drug Info's social media kit contains content that you can use in social media planning including images and suggested text for social media posts.
Promotional material
Top up your Drug Info promotional material in time for your youth events using our online form.
Feedback
If you run a Know your Drug Facts event or program in your library, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know about your program via our online form.