HIGH LIFE: A Weekly Forum For High School Students : Friday Night Lively : Fountain Valley Has O.C.’s First Chapter, Designed to Offer Safe Fun and Serve Others

Live from Orange County, it’s Friday Night!

Friday Night Live, a program relatively new to the O.C. scene, is designed to provide alternatives for teen-agers by promoting the idea of teens taking care of one another in a safe, alcohol- and drug-free environment.

“We’re 75% fun and 25% message,” says Monica Beltran, program director for FNL, which is a cooperative effort between the Orange County Department of Education and the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The FNL program, which was developed in 1984, is made up of more than 850 high schools in nearly every of the state’s 58 counties. Its goal by this June is to establish at least 15 chapters on Orange County high school campuses. Presently, there is only one.

Fountain Valley’s FNL chapter, which started at the beginning of the school year, boasts a membership of 25 students.

The chapter recently teamed with another of the school’s clubs--STOP (Students and Teachers Opposing Poverty)--on a clothes and blanket drive for the county’s homeless.

“It was just terrific,” FNL adviser Carol Buhman said of the collection, which was distributed by the Huntington Beach Women’s Club and helped fulfill the FNL chapter’s community cause/social action component. “They were most surprised by how huge a quantity we had collected.”

Marci McLean, 17, a senior and president of Fountain Valley’s chapter, said that through community service, FNL reaches out to everyone.

“There are a lot of students who are really afraid of peer pressure,” McLain said. “(Through FNL) I’ve made a lot of friends and helped a lot of people.”

Buhman, who also teaches economics and foods and nutrition at Fountain Valley High, said, “Kids get friendships going without being pressured to do anything.”

The only kind of pressure FNL is interested in is peers urging one another to make the right choices in order to live healthy lifestyles.

FNL is initially presented to a school’s student body through a multimedia assembly. Beyond the 12-minute slide show provided by FNL, the remainder of the program is the responsibility of the students, who in the past have put on skits and had featured speakers to reinforce the drug-free message.

Those students deciding to join their school’s chapter are issued a membership card, which helps remind them of their commitment to wise choices--printed at the bottom of each card is “Drive and Party Sober!”--while also providing discounts at local businesses.

With so much violence surrounding many high school events, the membership cards provide a means for administrators to determine who belongs at an FNL-sponsored event.

“Everyone’s afraid of gang warfare. (FNL) provides a good way of protection,” said Susan Miller, who attends Sonora High in La Habra.

While most of FNL’s events are designed to take place on individual campuses, there may be some countywide functions in the future. There are no restrictions as to what an event might entail, except, according to Beltran, “There’s a purpose for every event.”

“If we’re going to have a beach party, we’re also going to clean up the beach.”

Some past FNL social action events--designed to instill responsibility as well as build self-esteem and confidence--have included graffiti-removal, serving the homeless and cleaning up the freeways. Social events have included dances, bowling tournaments, pizza parties and benefit concerts.

In addition to school and community-oriented events, FNL also plans to sponsor assemblies, workshops and annual regional conferences.

Membership in a FNL chapter is not restricted to any type of student. Grades don’t matter, and neither do previous alcohol or drug problems. In fact, more than 75 FNL chapters have been formed at continuation high schools statewide, according to Beltran. However, nobody under the influence of any illegal substance is allowed to attend chapter functions.

Staci Marguia, 17, is a senior at La Habra High School, where she is helping plan an FNL chapter. She says the chapter expects to draw interest from students who shy away from the typical teen party scene because of a fear of violence.

“So many kids are looking for ways to go to (nonviolent) parties because (regular) parties are so dangerous,” she said.

Friday Night Live, which is being introduced to school districts countywide, is funded by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

For more information, contact Monica Beltran at (714) 966-4405.