We’ve all heard them on the radio. Public Service Announcements – PSA’s for short - that describe the dangers of drug or alcohol abuse.
The “This is your brain on drugs” PSA from the 1980s involved an egg, a frying pan, and a stern father-figure.
Today, anti-substance abuse PSA’s tend to have a lighter and friendlier approach.
A PSA is running on radio stations throughout Nevada, produced collaboratively by two Las Vegas-based organizations. The ad stresses positive messages.
Jamie Ross of the PACT Coalition, a group that works to stop substance abuse before it starts by educating teens, parents and anyone else involved in the lives of teenagers about addiction, said while the old ads were something to talk about they were probably not very effective.
"I think it definitely brought up the conversation," she said, "But what we know now is scare tactics really don't work in encouraging people not to do something."
The new ad instead tells teens something they may not realize: not EVERYONE is getting high.
Eric Bonnici with the Nevada Broadcasters Association, which worked with PACT Coalition to create the ad, said the new PSA is a twist on the timeless excuse used by almost every kid, "everyone is doing it."
"We thought what an interesting approach that we prove the fact that 'no, not everybody is doing it,' and we put a positive twist to it," he said.
The ad in part says:
"Fact: more than 70 percent of all high school students do not currently drink alcohol.
Fact. more than 60 percent of all Nevada high school students have never used marijuana
Fact: More than 70 percent of all Nevada high school students do not currently use vape products."
Ross said the statistics were pulled from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a national survey.
The PSA also relies on the drive of teenagers to belong and so the message is a simple one be part of the majority and don't get involved with drugs, Ross said.
Eric Bonnici, Nevada Broadcasters Association, Director of Sales and Marketing and Executive Director of the Nevada Broadcasters Foundation; Jamie Ross, Executive Director, PACT Coalition, Las Vegas
