2012-2013 Hawaii Meth Project's Teen Advisory Council (not pictured in group shot: Bryson Cayaban, Lauren Pries). Photo courtesy of the Hawaii Meth Project.
By Miguel Gonzalez
Editor
(Honolulu)– 17-year-old Bryson Cayaban is wise beyond his years. The Waimea High School student is a member of the Hawaii Meth Project Teen Advisory Council, an organization that helps help raise awareness about the risks of methamphetamine use, and provides a teen perspective on the prevention campaign’s strategies and messages. “My goal is to make a difference for my school, my community and my state,” Cayaban said in a recent interview with Hawaiiahe.com
The Hawaii Meth Project Teen Advisory Council is comprised of twenty-one high school students representing public and private schools from the islands of Lanai, Molokai, Maui, Kauai, Big Island, and Oahu who were selected through a competitive application and interview process. Council members are involved in a variety of outreach activities, and each will create and implement a service project in their community during this school year.
Cayaban has been witness to horror stories of people becoming addicted to Meth and the lengths they will go through to get the destructive drug.
“Hawaii’s ranked top five in the nation in terms of Meth use and that is not something to be proud of, my hope is that within 10 years we can educate our teens and keiki to move away from this horrible drug.”
The teen believes values and upbringing have a lot to do with the way teenagers lives are shaped and the decisions that ultimately make them take or refuse these types of drugs. “Some people grow up with no support from their family. That sometimes makes them take extreme decisions and resort to bad decisions such as Meth.”
Last year’s Teen Advisory Council members were very instrumental in reaching out to their peers and expanding the teen volunteer base in their respective counties. “Our goal is to let children and teens know that drugs can definitely affect their lives in a bad way and that staying away from them is the best chance to have a successful future.”
Along with the rest of the members of the team council, Cayaban attends and speaks at school assemblies, local fairs and is involved with community outreach programs that help educate teenagers and anybody who needs help in combating destructive drug. “Education is power,” he says.
Cayaban explained that every year the Hawaii Meth project spent $50 million in Outreach programs to educate the community. “That’s too much money. That is money that should be going to feed the poor or do something more else, that’s why my goal is to keep on educating people so we can get rid of this problem.”
"My goal is to make a difference for my school, my community and my state," stated Cayaban. Photo courtesy of the Hawaii Meth Project.
Members of the 2012-2013 Teen Advisory Council:
Maui
Joey Cardoza* – 11th grade, St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School
Oksana Gil – 11th grade, King Kekaulike High School
Rachel Nguyen – 11th grade, Seabury Hall
Tyler Rabara – 11th grade, King Kekaulike High School
Malia Refamonte* – 12th grade, Lahainaluna High School
Aja Toscano* – 12th grade, Lahainaluna High School
Kauai
Jordan Balbin – 12th grade, Kauai High School
Bryson Cayaban* – 12th grade, Waimea High School
Mae Ortega – 12th grade, Kapaa High School
Big Island
Michelle Fratinardo* – 12th grade, Kamehameha Schools Hawaii
Lauren Pries – 12th grade, Hawaii Preparatory Academy
Kayla Yamada – 11th grade, Waiakea High School
Mahealani Yoshida* – 12th grade, Konawaena High School
Oahu
Isabel Luk – 12th grade, St. Francis High School
Emily McLain – 11th grade, Kamehemeha School Kapalama
Grace Nikaido* – 12th grade, Farrington High School
Andrew Polk – 10th grade, Leilehua High School
Macey Seguancia – 11th grade, Roosevelt High School
Bryson Shea – 12th grade, Hawaii Baptist Academy
Lanai
Melissa Agcaoili – 12th grade, Lanai High School
Molokai
Hope Will – 11th grade, Molokai High School
* Returning members
About the Hawaii Meth Project: The Hawaii Meth Project is a non-profit organization that implements large-scale, research-based campaigns and community action programs to reduce methamphetamine use in the state. Central to its integrated campaigns is MethProject.org —a definitive source for information about Meth for teens. The Hawaii Meth Project is affiliated with the Meth Project, a national non-profit organization headquartered in Palo Alto, California, aimed at significantly reducing Meth use through public service messaging, public policy, and community outreach. For more information, visit HawaiiMethProject.org .