The Buffalo County Partnership Council, a coalition of teachers, students, law enforcement, university professors and public health and human services professionals, invited all eighth-grade students in Buffalo County from Alma, Cochrane-Fountain City, Gilmanton and Mondovi schools districts to participate in the annual prevention day on February 10, 2025, at the Cochrane-Fountain City School. The program consisted of three parts to help teenagers cope and be resilient as they prepare to transition to high school.
One of the primary sessions at the event was presented by Dyllan Smith, the Buffalo County Public Health educator, who taught eighth graders the Signs of Suicide, or SOS, a suicide prevention program that educates students on the relationship between suicide and depression. A key message of the SOS program is to ACT, or acknowledge you are seeing signs of depression, let your friend know how much you care about them, and tell a trusted adult to get him if you are worried about yourself or others.
Another breakout at 8th grade day was taught by a team of Buffalo/Pepin County Teen Court panel members and their advisor, Annie Lisowski of the Division of Extension in Buffalo County. High School students conducted a mock hearing then they engaged the eighth graders in small group discussions about the implications of poor social media use and the consequences of using THC and vaping. A deputy from the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department also shared about the process for a criminal investigation when young people share illicit photos. Students were able to learn more about the youth restorative justice process in Buffalo and Pepin Counties as part of the session.
The final part of eighth grade day was an interactive presentation from Dr. Justin Patchin, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, about safe use of social media. He reminded students to “Pause Before they Post” and to consider the consequences of having too much of their private information out for the public to see. The presentation included strategies for making good decisions when using their phones for social media.
Eighth grade day is made possible from the support and funding of the Buffalo County Partnership Council (BCPC) whose mission is to “provide collaborative prevention programming to educate youth and their families to make healthy choices and positively influence people and policies.”
