NB Focus promotes truth about consequences

A new poster from North Bay Focus and the North Bay Police Service was unveiled Friday.
____________________________________________________________

North Bay Focus and the North Bay Police Service have unveiled a new poster aimed at helping young people make the right decisions in life and avoid the bad ones.

The poster, which made its debut Friday at police headquarters, has been designed to look like a Matrix-style video game and as something teens would be able to relate to.

Negative choices
It’s purpose, said North Bay Focus coordinator Wendy Billingsley, is to help local youths develop positive decision-making skills “as opposed to just telling them what they should or should not do.”

An identically designed pamphlet has also been produced.

Both have pictures of negative choices—drinking and driving, drugs, fighting and theft—are superimposed over a grid and consequences of those choices have been printed underneath the grid. Caveats about the choices are also included.

“With the kids reading the pamphlets and looking at the posters, it helps them understand that with every choice they make there are consequences: good choices and good consequences and negative choices and negative choices,” Billingsley said.

“It’s not a preachy type of poster, but we want to get into the whole concept of getting youth to understand that they have to develop better decision-making skills.”

Empowers them
While a young person might realize a choice is negative he or she may not understand how to then make the right choice or deal with peer pressure, Billingsley said.

“This poster really lets youth know that their lives are in their own hands and empowers them.”

A phrase on the poster really sums it up, Billingsley said.

“Interactive multi-choice, multi-consequence game…but it’s not a game, it’s your life. There’s only one escape, choose wisely.”

X-Box game
Billingsley said she’d also like to see the poster turned into an X-Box game.

The poster will be put up in local arenas, community centres, stores, and any other businesses which would like to carry it.

Billingsley said North Bay Focus would also like to see it at audio/video entertainment centres where youths rent and buy video games.