The BACCHUS Network™ and Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez Featured in Stephen R. Covey’s Latest Book The 3rd Alternative

The BACCHUS Network™ is pleased to announce that the nonprofit organization and Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez are featured in the newest book from Stephen R. Covey called The 3^rd Alternative, Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems. Covey is the bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

In his latest work, Covey addresses resolving conflict by describing the 1^st Alternative as “my way,” and the 2^nd Alternative as “your way.” The 3^rd Alternative transcends traditional solutions to conflict by forging a path toward a third option that moves beyond your way or my way to a higher or better way – one that allows both parties to emerge from debate or even heated conflict in a far better place than either had envisioned.

The reference to Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez and BACCHUS is featured on pages 187-188 of the book. Dr. Gonzalez’ story references his days as a student at the University of Florida and the experiences he faced with his peers and their drinking behavior. His efforts and new approach to helping young people in higher education avoid risky behaviors led to today’s national student leadership network of peer educators addressing health and safety issues.

We are also pleased to acknowledge BACCHUS Board member Judith Tindall. Covey cites a reference from her work, Peer Programs: An In-Depth Look, in the same chapter.

The BACCHUS Network™ is a national 501c(3) student leadership organization focused on health and safety. The BACCHUS Network™ has nearly 700 affiliates and 25,000 peer educators across the country. For additional information, you can visit the organization website at www.bacchusnetwork.org

The Haunting of Scare Tactics

A recently released study details the health status of hundreds of so-called “crack babies” from the late 80s/early 90s. For those old enough to remember, “crack babies” were a major topic of health discussion during those years. Not only that, but they were also used as a tool of propaganda in the War on Drugs. Common were prophecies of an entire generation of children with severe mental impairment and lingering health issues. This was an accepted, terrifying “truth” with a strong undertone of morality.

Article: http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/crack-had-little-long-term.html

Fast-forward 20 years to check in on these now-grown-up children. As it turns out, their health problems have been relatively minimal, at least much less than the original scare tactic had implied. The biggest factor in the health of these children appears related to the overall socioeconomic status of their mothers and the mothers’ ability to take care of themselves through proper nutrition, hydration and exercise. Certainly, crack and cocaine have wreaked havoc on many, many lives, and in this case, parenting ability has suffered. But the lingering images we had, and the assumptions that were made (thankfully) have not materialized.

There is a lesson here about credibility, scare tactics and fear in general. Hopefully we have learned to avoid trumpeting a health epidemic for which we have little concrete evidence. The public takes note of exaggerations and fears that do not come to pass. As with any brand (and, yes, “public health” is a brand), credibility is paramount. People want to know that you/we will deliver on our promises and that we will be honest with them. Creating anxiety in hopes that it will motivate people to change or abstain from a behavior is simply a poor way to promote health.

-posted by Tad Spencer