Planet Youth

Highland is piloting the Planet Youth model, in partnership with Winning Scotland.

Highland are one local authority area included in the Scottish pilot, and currently there are 13 Highland secondary schools involved:

Planet Youth Partner Schools

Tain Royal Academy
Golspie High School
Dornoch Academy
Thurso High School
Wick High School
Lochaber High School
Plockton High School
Invergordon Academy
Alness Academy
Dingwall Academy
Inverness High School
Culloden Academy
Nairn Academy

History of Planet Youth

The Planet Youth, Icelandic Prevention Model, originated in Iceland. In the 1990s, Iceland had the highest rates of teen smoking, alcohol and drug use across Europe. Now they have the lowest.

To address the situation, they looked at the risk and protective factors for alcohol, tobacco and other drug use in young people, across four areas of young peoples’ lives: family, peers, school and leisure time. They used local, anonymous, survey information from young people to increase protective factors, and reduce risk factors.

This evidence-based, international programme, has now been adopted in many other countries around the world.

Programme aims

There are other benefits associated with this approach, including that it can improve the mental and physical wellbeing of young people.

The programme will aim to:

increase opportunities for young people, this will include many different activities such as sport, music, art, dance and others.
work with communities, including parental involvement, to ensure local ownership and a proactive approach to address local issues.
apply evidence based practice, implementing interventions based on data from local communities, which will be collected from an anonymous school survey.

This short video gives an overview of the model:

Further Resources

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs: A Parent’s Guide.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs: A Parent’s Guide (PDF)

Practical advice to help parents communicate with their child about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The Parent Hub

The Parent Hub has been set up as an interactive space for all parents and carers across Highland.

The Parent and Carer Padlet

The Parent and Carer Padlet offers a range of resources on health and wellbeing issues relating to the Planet Youth Community Action Plans.

Community Action Groups

Community Action Groups are set up in the areas of the programme. This presentation shares more information about the Planet Youth approach and the role of local Community Action Groups.

Connect with Planet Youth in Highland, including your local Community Action Group, through the Planet Youth in Highland Facebook page.