At the Sept. 23 Whitehall-Coplay Communities That Care meeting, coalition members welcomed five Whitehall-Coplay School District students.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, students were regular attendees at the meetings. Their input and experience proved to be valuable in understanding how best to reach and help the student body.

The newest youth CTC members, Whitehall High School seniors Aubrey Vivian and Giovanni Mazzola and Whitehall-Coplay Middle School eighth-graders Dayna Nelson, Edrian Lee and Tanner Dogmanits, offered important insight as the coalition continues its analysis of the Pennsylvania Youth Survey data.

One question asked of the students related to lower numbers of students reporting they feel school is important. Giovanni reported the increase in awareness of technical programs attributed to the belief that schooling is not important. Students feel they might not need the academic side of schooling if they plan on entering a trade or other vocational program.

Dayna reported some students noting a disconnect between some teaching structures and the “real world.” She noted some strictures and rules might not be relevant or helpful for future careers. She suggested a shift in focus to help make real-world connections to relate some educational basics with the outside world or future careers.

Tyrone Fisher, with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley, said it might be helpful to have some guides to help students explore their options and gain an understanding of what skills or educational levels they might need for future careers.

He also commented on a new program being implemented in conjunction with the school district that will help connect students with college students and local businesses.

The conversation then turned to bullying. The PAYS data showed students reported being bullied for the color of their skin. The students were asked if this is something they see in the schools.

The high school students both reported hearing racial slurs tossed around in a joking manner. It was noted it usually starts as a joke and has become normalized enough that it isn’t always seen as bullying. However, it crosses into bullying when it goes too far and someone gets insulted.

It was reported the students don’t realize the harm in using these words as jokes, and additional education into other cultures could help the other students understand or empathize.

Fisher noted how important it is to know and understand the harmful nature of these terms.

“Racial slurs should never be a joke,” he said.

Dayna and Tatiana Berrios, WCSD supervisor of educational equity, agreed it comes down to education and needing to teach about other cultures.

“We’re not going to say ‘everyone’s equal,’” Berrios noted. “We’re going to highlight the differences.”

It was also reported in-person bullying is not much of a concern in today’s technological world. WHS Principal Dr. Peter Mayes and Officer Matt Christman, WCSD school resource officer, both reported cyberbullying is the primary outlet for bullying.

Mayes noted the difficult thing about cyberbullying is that they are not able to investigate those cases. Cyberbullying reports have to be handed over to the SROs and the Whitehall Police Department to investigate due to a lack of investigative resources in the district.

The students emphatically reported vaping is still very much a concern in the district. The high school students noted vapes are easily accessible as some gas station don’t ask for identification and will just sell them to students. They can also be ordered online.

They said there is a social pressure aspect to vaping as well since “everyone is doing it.”

It was noted increased education about the dangers and risks could help.

“Kids don’t know why they’re doing it or why it’s bad,” Dayna said.

The question is how to share the information in a way to really reach the youths and get them to listen.

It was also noted many students reported parental permissiveness regarding drinking. The high school students reported seeing it in the district because parents want to exhibit control, such as providing a “safe” space to drink and limiting how much alcohol is provided.

It was noted the CTC might want to focus on sharing more education and resources with parents to combat this behavior.

A focus of this meeting was to look at the CTC’s three main priorities and decide if the group believes they want to continue working on them, using the PAYS data to measure need.

The three main focus areas were substance abuse, mental wellness and hunger.

It was mentioned the number of students reporting food instability and hunger has dropped. This need is being addressed by Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, so CTC members might not need to focus on it anymore.

Continenza also questioned if the substance abuse priority should be shifted to focus more on vaping since the data shows cigarette and hard drug usage is fairly low in the district, but the vaping numbers continue to be high.

The conversation about these priorities and PAYS feedback from the students will continue at the next meeting.

As the coalition is heading into the third year of the coalition checkup project, Melissa Fausey, with Penn State EPISCenter, attended to discuss next steps. Another survey will be sent out to the coalition members to see changes in the group over the years.

A summary of year two is expected to be sent out around the winter holidays. CTC members will use this report to identify new priorities for the third year.

The second year’s focus was on increased communication and outreach, resulting in updated brochures and yard signs placed around the area. Denise Continenza, Penn State Extension educator and CTC coordinator, complimented the group on working to “increase visibility” in the community.

The next CTC meeting is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 21 in the LGI room at WHS.