Simple Solution For A Complicated Problem?

Of the 38 youth in long-term recovery who attended The Young People’s Networking Dialogue on Recovery in December 2010, some began their path to recovery through formal treatment, some via the criminal justice system, some had their family, some had their faith, some had their school, and some had all of it. But there was one single unifying thread woven through each story shared that day as a key to sustaining their recovery: positive peer pressure. 
In her new book, Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World, Tina Rosenberg takes peer pressure -- usually regarded as a negative thing -- and documents many instances throughout recent history when it has been used as a force for good. The influence young people have on each other is undeniable, and obviously peer pressure is viewed as a cause for many of the alcohol and drug problems in our society. But after personally witnessing thousands of youth use positive peer pressure on one another to stay clean and sober, I am left wondering why we can’t harness this powerful force for good. 

 
How about on a national scale? I know it’s a little outside of the “box,” and it sounds perhaps too simple to work. But maybe -- just maybe -- have we over-complicated our solution to this complex problem? 
 
When I was in early recovery, a “transmitter of positive peer pressure” once told me that I needed to “keep it simple” if I wanted to stay sober. So I followed his lead and did what he had done, and I wrote “Keep It Simple” in red crayon on the bathroom mirror. It was the daily reminder of the message that just may have saved my life. 
 
My ego might beg to differ or want to take more credit than I am due at times, but the truth is that sustaining my long-term recovery can only be explained by two simple actions:
 
1. Following in the footsteps of other positive peers with lived experience
2. Continuing to help others follow in my footsteps   
 
Now this is an illustration of a transformation on an individual level, but is it really that different at the society level? 
 
In her book, Tina Rosenberg describes how youth in South Africa have made and continue to make a lasting positive impact on the HIV/AIDS epidemic through their loveLife movement – a positive peer pressure campaign. This movement is driven by peers who have been given a platform to share their lived experience with one another about how they came to appreciate their own lives. As a result of harnessing this power for good, the youth in South Africa have made dramatic strides and overall have begun treating their bodies with that same appreciation.  
 
So, back to our alcohol and drug problem for another illustration … By my count, there were 38 youth recovery leaders with an average sustained recovery time of 2.4 years in the room back in December at the Young People's Networking Dialogue on Recovery. 
 
Guess how many our system has invested in to cultivate a culture of positive peer pressure? 
 
ZERO. 
 
Not a single youth in that room had been given a professional outlet by our health, education, or criminal justice systems to use their lived experience to help other young people find hope for change. Admittedly, I may be a bit biased, since I’m a volunteer young person in recovery whom our system has yet to support -- but I think that is atrocious.
  
I don’t mean to suggest that youth alcohol and drug problems are not incredibly complex. Nor do I write this to discount the incredible efforts of anybody in the most honorable and challenging profession I can think of – working with youth who have alcohol and drug problems. But for good-hearted reasons (that always seem logical at the time) we have effectively professionalized and credentialed our way out of utilizing possibly our most inexpensive, longest-lasting resource for helping young people live alcohol and drug free – their peers.
 
Young people continue to die, get locked up, and drop out of school, and all of our collective brilliant, complicated ideas and strategies have fallen flat in terms of making true transformational society-level change happen. Sounds to me like our system might need to invest in a little red crayon and a message on the mirror – the sooner the better!
 

Webinar On this Topic [Archived]
Widening The Door Of Entry to Recovery for Young People
Anne Thompson and Greg Williams, Connecticut Turning to Youth and Families (pictured at left)
April 22, 2011 at 10am PST, 1pm EST

What can the engagement of youth with lived long-term recovery experience do to support the delivery of pre and post-treatment recovery support systems? How do communities utilize this incredible and inexpensive existing resource? What do communities need to cultivate and support the delivery of these effective peer-based services? SAMHSA’s recent Young People’s Networking Dialogue on Recovery (YPNDR), discussed these questions through consensus from youth in long-term recovery on key factors that have influenced their successful recovery. The presentation will summarize the key findings from that dialogue.
 
>>Register now!
>>Watch the archived webinar here.
>>Download the PowerPoint slides here (PDF) - be patient!
 
 

Greg Williams is Co-Director of Connecticut Turning To Youth and Families (CTYF). He was part of a recent A&E panel discussion on Recovery During The Holidays that included the R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and other experts on recovery.
 

Photo at top: apbialek.