Youth Substance Use Prevention Happens Every Day

Apr 30, 2026

Thank you, New Hampshire Prevention Community | The Partnership @drugfreeNH

Prevention is not as simple as warning kids not to do drugs. If you’re an adult reading this, you probably remember “Just Say No” and “This Is Your Brain On Drugs.” Did those common refrains stop young people in your community from using substances?

We now know so much more about adolescence, brain development, effective communication, and, importantly, risk and protective factors. Risk and protective factors impact the likelihood a young person will engage in risky behaviors, including substance use.

Risk factors

Risk factors are factors or circumstances that may increase the likelihood of a person engaging in risky or harmful behaviors.

Example: A community or neighborhood where alcohol, vapes, and cannabis are highly advertised and easily available.

Protective factors

Protective factors are factors or circumstances that may decrease the likelihood of a person engaging in risky or harmful behaviors.

Example: Clear family expectations, strong connection or attachment to family, peers, or school; strong sense of identity, adequate sleep and nutrition, future orientation, and social or interpersonal skills

Helping young people to avoid, delay, and limit substance use is so much bigger than telling them what to do—but conversations with young people about substances do matter. Those conversations are a protective factor against substance use by building refusal skills and healthy boundaries.

As a parent or caregiver, choose to be someone your child trusts to talk to about substances:

Ask questions about what they see and understand related to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other substances.
Listen to them with curiosity and without judgment.
Set clear boundaries and expectations.
Educate yourself. Substances, marketing, and availability of drugs has changed and will continue to change. Stay in the loop so that you know what your child is faced with and can answer questions.

You can also help your child by supporting those other indirect protective factors.

Prioritize connection with your child, and help them to have strong and healthy connections to family, community, and friends.
Affirm and support your child. Help them recognize their strengths and build self esteem and identity.
Support your child to try new things, expand their world, tap into their creativity, and find things they enjoy doing.

Watch and share: Thank You, New Hampshire. Tag us @drugfreeNH on FB and IG

Across New Hampshire, caring professionals help prevent youth substance use every day, in schools, after-school programs, community groups, the arts, and beyond. They educate our kids about the risks and realities of substance use. But they also help youth learn healthy coping strategies and leadership skills, bring opportunities to try new things and find belonging, and provide trusted safe spaces for support.

This May 10 – 16 is National Prevention Week. At The Partnership @drugfreeNH, we want to recognize all the ways prevention happens, and all the people in New Hampshire who support kids every day to make healthier decisions.

THANK YOU to the counselors, teachers, coaches, mentors, parents and grandparents who help protect New Hampshire kids from substances, this National Prevention Week and every week. You can rely on The Partnership @drugfreeNH for the practical tools, virtual events, and information you need to support the young people in your life. Explore our website for topical information, follow us on social media, and sign up for email updates.