It takes a community

Leigh Ann Sisson knows that it takes more than schools to point children and teens in the right direction.

“When there is a tragedy, people point their fingers at the school and ask what they are going to do with that,” she said. “What we know from the Pride Survey is that when they are making poor decisions, it’s generally not at school, and parents are the largest deterrent to things like substance abuse for their kids. It’s how we model behavior that’s going to influence our kids, and it’s been time for us as a community to step up and say we want to make strides as a community to put our hands around these kids and support them.”

Sisson, a mom of four, is one of several veterans of the Mountain Brook Anti-Drug Coalition who have organized a new nonprofit organization, All In Mountain Brook, to address a wider set of issues among youth.

The Anti-Drug Coalition had primarily focused on programs around Red Ribbon Week and Hitting Home programs for parents.

“Some of that had been good, but it had run its course,” former coalition co-chair Renee Fenn said. “We wanted to focus on broader problems that many of our youth are faced with, like high-risk behavior, violence and mental health.”

This past summer the new organization came to life along with the help of parent and attorney Jack Young.

“It’s a great way for us to broaden our scope, and it’s amazing to watch the enthusiasm of all the people who have committed to be a part of the board, which will enhance what we have started to help students,” Fenn said.

Sisson knows that the kids themselves ultimately make decisions, but she wants parents, worship centers, businesses and the community as a whole to model behavior and help support them.

All In Mountain Brook introduced itself to the community with a video shown at open houses at the junior high and high school, and elementary schools received copies of it to share as well. Parents also had an opportunity to sign a commitment form to say they are “All In Mountain Brook.”

Fenn plans for the group to hold events such as parenting practices workshops and use city officials, physicians and psychologists on the board to provide resources for parents when they need them. They are also considering holding a community event after a football game or involving area restaurants. 

 “We want to be an avenue for parents in the community to be aware of,” Fenn said. “It’s never too early to build a relationship with your children, so that as they get older and start to make decisions on their own, they know the right decision to make when faced with things like drugs and alcohol.”

Instead of a one-week focus on Red Ribbon Week, each school will take a yearlong approach to addressing these issues, bringing in speakers and creating other initiatives. 

“Studies show you have to talk about these issues with kids every 30 days to make an impact,” Sisson said.

Sisson envisions hands-on classes for parents taught by experts about how to handle social media or target signs of depression or an eating disorder. She also hopes to hold community events where teenagers can learn that you can have fun without alcohol and that at community events in the villages where alcohol is served that there is sufficient parent supervision. 

“Teenagers want someplace to go and be together, and when they go places without supervision, that’s when those things happen,” she said.

In addition to parents and school representatives, All In’s new board has members from area businesses, worship centers and city government.

Jonathan Miller, rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, said the group being a community effort, not just a school one, is critical to helping Mountain Brook children.

“In a community like Mountain Brook where people are generally high achievers, there is a lot of pressure for kids to excel at everything they do, and I am concerned that pressure can hurt a lot of kids and keep them from discovering the world,” Miller said. “I have been involved with addressing drug and alcohol education in the past, but there is more that is going on with our children that are engaging in this community. Sometimes our society turns the other way and doesn’t see that our children are not as happy as they should be at this time of life.”

All In Mountain Brook’s board held its first meeting in September and should announce upcoming programs in the coming months.