Friday Night Live

Friday Night Live builds partnerships for positive and healthy youth development which engage youth as active leaders and resources in their communities. The California Friday Night Live (FNL) Program was developed in 1984 in Sacramento by the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) and the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). It began as a pilot program dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by teen motorists driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. During the first years of the program the youth involved were organized into high school-based student action groups, later renamed FNL Chapters. The success rate was so great that in 1988, the California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs established a statewide office to facilitate the expansion of the program to youth throughout California. By 1990, the number of counties with the FNL Program had increased 300% and the main focus of the program began to shift from one of preventing drinking and driving among teens to one of promoting healthy lifestyles free of alcohol, tobacco, or other substance abuse among youth.

FNL has been in Shasta County since 1989, evolving into 11 on-campus chapters and one large county-wide get together that meets every Tuesday night, and is more than 100 members strong. On-campus chapters are youth-led by a youth Campus Outreach Partner who receives a stipend to conduct meetings, organize school events and coordinate county-wide activities. Members of FNL participate in several conferences throughout the year, to include the county-led Youth-to-Youth Friday Night Live High School Conference held in the beginning of the year, state-wide Teen Work in April, staffing the 8th Grade Mini-Conference in the spring, and attending the international Youth-toYouth Western States Conference in the summer. All conferences provide members with the opportunity to lead workshops, participate in panels, and meet youth from all over the world who have also chosen to live healthy, drug-free lives.

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