Based on conversations from Franklin County teachers’, students are facing many challenges at a younger age, leading them to make life-changing decisions earlier; therefore, the Franklin County Cooperative Extension Service wanted students to be mindful of the repercussions of those decisions. Thus, the program Truth & Consequences did just that. The Franklin County Schools Dropout Prevention and Volunteer Coordinator approached the Franklin County Extension Office to host this program two years ago, which has been successful since the beginning.  

 The Truth & Consequences program was set up as scenarios to provide students with a simulated experience of what would happen if they found themselves in a tough situation where they had potentially made the wrong decision when it came to alcohol and controlled substance abuse.  The program also allowed students to hear from a Carrollton bus crash survivor and a local parent whose child decided to make a wrong decision, which resulted in him taking his own life.  A change that was made this year to the program was adding two nurses to the rotation of speakers to present the effects vaping has on the body.  Within the last year, the number of middle school students vaping has increased tremendously in Franklin County, which resulted in the committee adding a vaping portion to the program.  

 Alongside the Extension employees and school personnel, over 40 community volunteers from all aspects of Franklin County came together to make this program successful to more than 600- 8^th grade students in Franklin County.  These volunteers serve in many areas of the community, such as health and medical professions, law enforcement officers, religious affiliations, coroner, school principals, etc.  These volunteers spent their time in the simulated experience, in which the students visited based on the scenario they had drawn.  There were also twenty parent volunteers who played a parental role to students as they participated in the scenario.   

Based on the evaluation discussions after the program, nearly 80% of the 8^th grade students who participated in the program found it was beneficial, 67% of the students knew of someone their age who had used alcohol or drugs or vaped, and 40% admitted to being asked to try alcohol, drugs or vaping.  From the previous year, the percentages are slightly different in a positive way.

This partnership of community members, the Franklin County Extension Service, and Franklin County and Frankfort Independent School staff has been so successful.  The students engagement in the program shows they can make educated decisions when faced with a difficult choice in the future and what proper steps they should take to ensure their safety and the safety of others. The Franklin County Cooperative Extension Service looks forward to continuing this program in the future.