“Devin’s Impressive Achievements and Passion for Community”

[00:00:04] Jake White: Welcome back everyone to another episode of Party Talk where we empower leaders in youth drug prevention. I’m your host, Jake White. And today, I’m getting to talk with Devin Duncan. And just to tell you a little bit about him. Right now he is currently in high school. But check this out. Not only is he a student enrolled in high school, he’s also enrolled in some of his college classes. He’s a student advisor for the Prevention Action Alliance. He’s working part time at Top Golf too. That’s not bad. He’s a digital media intern for a credit union. He’s a student intern for the student Safety Advisory Council. And that’s part of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. And last but not least, he’s a teen ambassador for the Ohio attorneys General’s Office. So is there anything you’re not doing right now, Devin?

[00:00:56] Devin Duncan: It’s funny you say that because I hear that all the time. Is there anything that you’re doing now? So it seems like a lot, but a really isn’t too much. When you put it all in, you kind of put it into your passion, it doesn’t feel like a lot of stuff that you’re doing.

[00:01:11] Jake White: And you’re focused on making the change you want to see in the world. So it probably like you said, it’s your passion. It’s all in alignment. I just have to ask, why do you do this stuff? What drives you?

[00:01:25] Devin Duncan: Sure. I think the easiest answer to that is, “I’m passionate about impacting my community.” And it’s funny that you said, you introduce me based on my LinkedIn profile, because it dig my headline describes me pretty accurately, it says something to the sorts of a high school student passionate about changing the system. And it really is just passion that I have for my community passion for making it a better place to live, work and raise a family. And I think that sometimes often people say, why do you do certain organizations or why are you involved? And I think it’s because all of those things work in the community, they work in bettering the community, whether it’s about school safety, and making schools safer for students to be in, making students feel comfortable, or whether it’s a teen ambassador advising about issues that impact youth. And I know that one of the things that we talked about their fentanyl, and how that is becoming more and more clever, becoming more and more targeted towards you. And so that’s just an example. But there’s so many things that I do and all involves around impacting the community, making it a better place to live, work and raise a family and that’s what means so much to me.

“Empowering Youth and Creating Safe Spaces”

[00:02:39] Jake White: Wow. And you might heard hear this from adults, as well as just like to hear a student your age, talk about that, building a community that’s better to raise a family, it doesn’t sound like a lot of the youth that we interact with. You sound like you just have a focus on the future. Why do you think that that is?

[00:03:01] Devin Duncan: Ultimately, I feel like more youth and I guess I would tend to take a contrast to that I think that more youth are involved in they care than we think I think that we don’t spark their fire as what I call it. It’s very interesting, in a lot of things that I do inside my school, I’ve served on a lot of community committees, one being diverse cultural diversity, Alliance focus on diversity and inclusion within the school. We also have positive behavior intervention support. And occasionally, they’ll come in and say, we want some students to come. And I always find it interesting, because when I go ask a ‘Student A’ on this project, I think they will be great for my time, I don’t get no’s. And it goes to show well, people are interested, it’s about maybe having the courage to come forward. And I think with me, I’m very putting myself out there. I don’t really mind take this podcast, for example. And I said, but I think some students aren’t like that. And so there definitely are some students who may not have as much faith may not have as much hope in their community as I do. But I think sometimes just about sparking their fire, sparking their interest, finding their passion. And I think ultimately, once we do that, I think that everybody is passionate about one topic. And sometimes it’s just a kind of about finding that passion. And I say empowering, youth voices to get involved. I think your talk is called empowering youth and prevention or something to the sword. And that’s a word that I like to use very often. Sometimes it’s just about empowering their voice letting them know that they have a voice and that they have a spot in that community that they can advocate for change too.

[00:04:45] Jake White: I love the way you put that because you’re not an anomaly. You’re not this one student amongst a million who’s doing great things. Like you mentioned, you just need to create that spark to invite someone in and that’s what I’ve seen too is some people will look at means, even starting in college with prevention, people are asking, what makes you want to do this? Or how do you get hundreds of students to attend a party that doesn’t serve alcohol? That’s the basis of my story. And what I had to tell them is, “I’m not an anomaly”. There are 1000s of students out there just like me, but they’re waiting for that invitation. Because we’re not all in that leadership mode of going to start a movement or I’m going to spark a change. But if somebody were to invite them into a change, they would be happy to jump on board. And so that’s what I see you as you’re leading, you’re not just passionate about changing, but you’re leading the way you’re inviting other people into it. You had just shared before we press record, is a little bit about the Q&A that you just did. I’m wondering if you’ll share some highlights about some things you’re able to share from that event, what that event was, and then a few other things that might have been helpful to the audience from it.

[00:05:58] Devin Duncan: Sure. And so I want to quickly jump back to the other thing, and the thing that I want to say is, it’s about creating safe spaces. And that kind of ties a little bit into the conversation that I haven’t Q&A was with OPPA, I think it’s the Ohio Prevention Professionals Association. And I was invited there a part of my work with the prevention Action Alliance, and one of the things that I did was go through a Q&A and kind of give my perspective. And it covers a lot of things that I’ve shared throughout the answers now, but a lot of what it was is how to get youth involved. And a part of that is creating spaces where it is something that is youth led. And you flood is one of those things where youth are leading the change, but they have adults, and I would say you Mr. White are one of those where you’re helping them you’re advising them, but they are leading the change, and they’re leading the way. And that’s a lot of what prevention Action Alliance does, there’s a youth lead part of that group. And they actually just had a whole set that we are changed rally focusing on sailing youth that they are the change empowering them to be their will selves. Previously, it was called “We are the majority focusing on that”. Majority of you aren’t partaking in drugs aren’t abusing substances. So it’s one of those things that I covered, it’s really just about having those spaces. And that’s partly the while up prevention Action Alliance, because it empowers you in that space to kind of take change and focus on the initiatives that means so much to them. So I spoke to OPPA and added balls, people from all different sorts of walks in prevention, whether it’s working for school, working for a government or local agency working for grant organizations kind of our perspective to what that means. And I think that means, again, empowering the voices, allowing them to lead the charge, but also understanding that not all youth are the same. And it ties back to we are the majority, I do believe very strongly that majority of youth aren’t partaking in substances or going to these parties and doing all types of different things. But I think we focus so much on the negative that we lead out the majority of people that are in the positive. So I kind of encouraged him that whenever well they are in and it doesn’t necessarily have to relate to prevention, but really focusing on and you’re gonna hear me say empower a lot, but not necessarily empower their voices, but empower the people who are making positive choices, because people think that make negative choices is a popular thing, when in reality more people are making positive choices. So we’re empowering, those people are making positive choices, I can see those people kind of coming back and really realizing that look, it’s not cool, it’s not fun, it’s not funny, whatever the case might be, to be on that, let’s go do this, let’s go to this big party, but to not do that, to not go to this big party to not be abusing these drugs. And so that’s kind of what I share. It all kind of ties into what I’m passionate about.

[00:08:59] Jake White: And that’s really helpful. Because I think the negativity is what gets the news coverage, the negativity and the catastrophes, I will get all the attention. But the student who’s making great choices going throughout life, they don’t necessarily make waves. Like, you’re not hearing about their story, or they’re not drawing attention to the fact that they’re making great choices. So I love the fact that we can celebrate students who are on the right path, and who are making positive change in their community. And even the ones who I don’t want to make the waves I just want to follow somebody who is making a positive change. So I whenever I do presentations, , I’ll share a statistic like that, that, hey, the majority of students in high school who are surveyed say that they aren’t using drugs or drinking. And a lot of people get this question wrong because I do it in a game show. So I’ll ask is it 20% of high school students don’t use drugs or is it 50? And a lot of them say that it’s 20, when it’s 50 or greater. And I’ll even ask how many of you raise your hand if you think that’s not believable? There’s no way that it’s that high. But when I was in school, even in college, I read a similar statistic. But in two years, I didn’t meet a single person who said, “Jake, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke.” So if this statistic is true, how come we’re not talking about it? And that’s where I think that change actually comes from, is when we do start talking about it, we start showcasing people who are doing great things instead of just showcasing the students who might be getting into trouble.

“The Holistic Approach to Prevention: Focusing on More Than Just Saying ‘No’ to Drugs”

[00:10:39] Devin Duncan: I love that you said the game show in the data, because that’s a lot of what I do in the Fairfield Youth Coalition, which is at my district, in a part of what we administer across our district is a pride survey you what that does, is that is a Survey administered to grades 6 through 12. And it gives you a great breakdown of what’s happening inside of district schools. And it’s also administered across counties very wide. So we get that data back. And we’re able to see kind of that, and we go, and we have this presentation called forming effects. And we do the same game show where we, we say what is the percentage, and it is, it’s mind blowing that many 40, that the negative is the more popular game, and it’s really not. So that’s what I love also kind of about prevention is because we do get that tangible data that we’re able to focus on. And we’re able to implement, what I like to say is risks and protective factors. And really kind of enable those I know, here, the high school, I’ve counted been leading the way in a positive messaging campaign, and we really realize to the price survey, and due to COVID-19 people are not necessarily doing themselves in the most positive light, there’s a lot of stress and anxiety going around. So it’s not prevention, I don’t believe prevention is just focusing on alcohol and how to prevent students from obesity, or some drug substance to prevent students from abusing, I also think it’s relating to how to address the root. Sometimes the root can be anxiety, it can be stress, it can be the feelings of fitting in. And so if we’re looking at that data, and we’re saying, I’m noticing that the data is saying that majority of the students are a portion of students, that’s concerning is stress or they’re feeling a lot of anxiety, how can I go towards that. And what I see is it’s as if messaging, conveying positive messaging to you, we know it works in and having them internalize that message in that’s addressing the root. And so I think another big thing is using data to drive change, I think prevention does a very good thing at that, and how that kind of all relates to addressing the root of why people are partaking in these substances is extremely important. And that’s what I love about prevention work as well.

[00:13:04] Jake White: So what I’m hearing you say is that prevention is not just stay away from drugs message, it’s about how to cope with life’s challenges. It’s about dealing with anxiety, it’s about resilience, it’s about creating an environment where people can fit in and feel good, without doing those things.

[00:13:24] Devin Duncan: Yes, that spot on exactly what I’m saying very spot on. That is exactly what prevention is. And it’s about touching all the aspects, not just the ones that we know, it’d be the biggest most popular ones. Again, that resiliency, that courage, whatever that might be, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.

“Nurturing Youth Advocacy: Inspiring Change and Building Resilience”

[00:13:44] Jake White: I want to ask you a new question. And tell me as much or as little as you can reflect on in the moment, but I’m imagining somebody listening to this in adult saying, how do I find a Devin in my community? I think the funny thing is, they’re all over. Like there are students who are hungry for change. So I’m curious, from your perspective, is there somebody who has walked alongside you, or has gotten you interested in this, that you can tell us a little bit about them and how they were able to bring you along on this journey or maybe sparked something in you? Is there somebody like that in your life?

[00:14:26] Devin Duncan: Sure. It’s so funny that you asked that because I’ll be junior this year, and I was just talking to someone, they’re like, “What are we going to do when you leave?” And I’m like, there’s going to be another person that is the new dev and Duncan of this community of this school, and it’ll be just fine. So it’s funny that you accent so I really, I think that there are youth that I feel like having inspired me and youth that have done very similar things, and I’ve been very involved, but also think it’s adults as well. And I like to think that adults have probably been more dried part of that, I feel it is recognizing my potential. And I think getting involved in the prevention Action Alliance actually started because my youth coalition invited me to Kaka. And in Kaka, I met a lady in I know that you’re presenting there, but I met a lady and she said, “I think this group would be really good for you, you really fit in the ideas”. And so that started prevention Action Alliance, when I got appointed to the student Safety Advisory Council for the state of Ohio, that started because somebody had said, “Devin, I realized that you’re so passionate about school safety, that’s good, I think this will be a good opportunity for you.” So I think that you’d have definitely inspired me to get involved, they told me that youth can be a part of the conversation. But I think it’s also a lot of adults that have kind of seen that potential that spark that fire and say, “Tim, I think this is an excellent opportunity for you, you should partake into it.” And I’m still kind of getting referred to those opportunities now. And some of them I take in, I follow up on some of them, I’m like, I don’t think so. But it still is comforting knowing that that adult realizes that I can do more, and I can be a part of more that, my voice would be valued in this community. And so I think if there is an adult listening, if you have that kid where you’re like that kid could be the Devin Duncan of my school, that kid can be the Devin Duncan, pull them aside have a conversation with them, allow them to realize that they can be in this committee that they can be in this group, they can apply to this organization that they should put themselves out there, and keep following up with keep checking in on making sure that they’re fitting it whatever that might be, I guess you would call that a mentor. But they may not come to you, but if you come to them, they will then I know they will flourish and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve built some really a good circle of people who care good circle, people who love me and mentor me to be where I am now. So that’s kind of the advice or the dots that we get one that top.

[00:17:09] Jake White: Thanks for sharing that Devin. I want to double down on that too. Because a lot of the times that we might not see someone who is like the perfect advocate, or the perfect person doesn’t exist, but realizing that when you work in schools, when you work at young people, and if you’re listening to this, imagine yourself back in middle school and high school, you’re probably insecure about a lot of stuff, you don’t know a lot of things, maybe you’re just coming into your confidence, and to have somebody validate who you are and say you are good enough, you can make a change, you can make a difference. Just someone speaking that into your life could be a change moment for you, where you start pouring into positive things. And becoming someone who talks about changing your environment and making it safer for families like that can be something that you could help create and foster, not something that you discover, but in a way that you can actually help bring that out of someone because Devin, I think that you’re right. There are students everywhere. They’re all around. But if they’re invited into something, and shown that they’re valued and important, that can bring out the best in us. And I myself included, there was a guy in college who called me out on this stuff that, I wasn’t saying like I was going down the wrong path, but just some of the things that I was doing, that weren’t responsible for bringing out the best, and others called me to a higher standard. And I was like, “Wow, I could do that. I could become someone who is responsible and resilient and bringing people into good things.”

[00:18:50] Devin Duncan: I love that you said that, because it’s not always I see that you’re doing really well. It can say like, you’re getting yourself into some trouble. And I know that you’re better than that. And so there are definitely two sides of that conversation. And I also want to say it can start at home as well, it’s parents, and I know that my mom has been really influential into getting involved in my community as well as much as and I would say she’s been more involved but as good as teachers have been as well. So it can be both sides of the conversation. And that definitely love that, maybe you see that there’s this trouble. I shouldn’t necessarily say troublemaker, but someone that getting into trouble that is much better than that. And like you said, maybe falling down that or going down that long road where you can be that person that steps in and turns them around. And I really I think that that prevention work and I know at my school, the youth coalition has been that place for a lot of kids where showing them that there is definitely that positive light to you. So I really love that you included and I just want to say that it can happen to literally be both sides of the conversation, someone that is already doing really well or someone that might need a little bit extra encouragement to turn around and pursue their passions another way.

“Connecting with Youth: Building Relationships, Not Barriers”

[00:20:10] Jake White: Well said, and let’s do this. I want to ask you, is there anything that you see happening in prevention? Maybe not in your school, but just anything you’ve seen? Is there anything happening in prevention that is not working for your generation? And you’re like, “If you’re listening out here, and you’re prevention, please do not do this to us”. And then the other side of that coin, we can talk about next. But is there anything that you’re like, “Stop doing this, please.”

[00:20:40] Devin Duncan: That is definitely an art question. And I’m trying to think back to how I answer that in my team old discussion with OPPA. I think a lot of youth are tired of being talked down to almost, that’s the biggest thing that I would probably say is, there’s a lot of talking down, there’s a lot of negative stereotypes out there, there’s a lot of if you don’t do this, you’re destined to be this, there’s a lot of back in my generation, we didn’t do this, there’s just a lot of bills lines things of where we’re talking down to you. I think a lot of you right now are kind of saying, “I’m not taking crap anymore”. And so if we want to impact change, we got to meet use where they are, I think that’s kind of where I’m at right now, sometimes we’re not really meeting him where we are, we’re basically saying, I’m above you. You are an adult, but I think we want to have a conversation with you, we have to realize that we got to meet them where they are right now. And we got to talk to them, like they are a young adult that they are. And so that’s kind of the biggest thing is we stopped with stereotype stop kind of talking down and use but treating them like an adult talking, empowering them rather than back in my generation, we didn’t do this or you guys are the weird, that’s recommendation.

[00:22:05] Jake White: That’s good. Because I think that can be the easy way out for an adult who doesn’t like somebody’s behavior. Stop doing this. And then there’s, there’s no real partnership with another person to say, “Hey, you’re doing this? Is that meeting your goals? Is that working? If not, let’s create something new.” I did an episode, if anybody wants to dive into this, what I think you’re talking about, I just learned the name for it called “Restorative Communication”. It’s not telling them what to do. It’s partnering with someone to create a new plan and a way to go forward. And it’s extremely powerful. I’m learning, and it’s a new topic for me. But if anybody wants to check out that episode, it’s a few back. You can kind of dive into that, but all about creating that partnership, not talking down to someone but really building them up. And like you’ve been saying the common theme of this is empowerment.

[00:23:02] Devin Duncan: I love that you said restorative conversations, because one thing I love is restorative practices outside of schools. And a lot of what that’s about is kind of finding the root of our problem in working towards them to address that root. That way, they don’t feel like they have to do that anymore. So I’m not familiar with restorative conversation. So I’ll have to kind of look into that. That’s why I always say you never stop learning. But I am kind of familiar with restorative practices in that’s really about addressing the root. And that’s what I think a lot of things are is when we tell someone to stop doing something, they might stop temporarily. But ultimately, there’s some type of underlying issue that’s making them knew that, eventually they’re going to revert back to that practice. So I just think that in anything that we do, we got to strive to realize the root of why somebody’s doing that. So if somebody is, let’s say, someone staying out late at night, and they’re not wanting to come home, why are they not wanting to come home should be the question versus punishing this kid and say, “Now, you’re not going out anymore or don’t come out or come on  away. Why do you want to be out so late?” I think that is where you work mutually, with the kid to get things done. So I absolutely love that question. That are not a question. But that answer, because restorative practices conversations, that’s so important to me.

[00:24:29] Jake White: And if you’re listening to this and thinking, “No, that doesn’t sound strong enough. I need to tell people what to do and what they expected me because I’m the adult”. My question is, how is that working out for you? Because that’s the truth. If you’re using that method, you are probably also really frustrated because you aren’t getting the results that you want. And if that’s the case, Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results. Why not try the restorative conversations, the restorative practices for instead of punitive, do you try those things? You’re right. I worked at the in Ohio a few times, something that middle schools and high schools, I actually was just there last week doing a youth coalition conference where they brought in students. And so we talked about resilience, how to protect your decisions, and how to make an influence in your community. But one of the reward of ones is we did our restorative curriculum in one of the juvenile detention centers. And that was really cool, because it was one of those things where, as an adult, already feeling like, how am I connecting with youth? There’s time in between us that separates us. So how am I really going to connect? And so I want to end this with just some encouragement, is that if you are wondering, how do I connect with youth, my thoughts is, “Hey, have you show up and just own who you are, and not try to be somebody different.” I could walk into the room and say, “I gotta be just like them, I gotta let them know that I wear cool clothes or anything like that, or I’m into the same stuff as them is, I’ve learned that’s not the key.” The key is just to authentically show up with showing your heart, why you care about them and to just give them what you need to give them and no attachment on the other side, we can’t create change in someone’s life, we can only share and hope that they, they take something from it. And it takes the weight off our shoulders, but also allows us to show up better. So I’m curious, Devin, from what you’ve seen is, how can we better connect with young people older like myself in your 30s or maybe you’re in your 40s or 50s, what is your advice for us?

[00:26:52] Devin Duncan: So I do want to start apologizing, if you are any background noise, I’m there generating dismiss at school. So I’m sitting in an empty classroom, because it is my study on MBT directly after this. But if you hear that, I apologize. What is important connecting views? I love that what you said, and I think it’s my answer as well. And I take this back, because it’s a question that I was asked in the OPPA Conference or the OPPA Panel. And one thing I said is, being an ally or ally to them, and just kind of let them know that you recognize their potential, you recognize what they’re doing. Again, he goes back, don’t talk down to them. Whereas I think a lot of times, when kids make some mistake, a lot of times this parent is disappointed, but it means so much when you go and you have a conversation with them. And you’re kind of like, I know that you’re better than and I’m not going to hold that against you, I recognize you’re potential. And that’s ultimately how you establish that mutual connection. It’s just kind of wanting to get involved one and know more about them wanting to know their interests, their passions, all that they’re interested in, whether than focusing on the negative thing. And it almost goes back to social emotional learning inside of schools, and the importance of relationships that you built with students. I think it’s the same with these, it’s the same principle showing that you care about their emotions that you are actually going to follow up on them. And in that relationship with them more or less focusing on not what they’re doing wrong, but what they’re doing. And that’s kind of how I say, and I think about how adults have to deal with me. It’s exactly that they’ve recognized my potential, they’ve actually shown that they care and they’ve been involved. So you’re hearing that now?

[00:28:40] Jake White: Well, that probably means I need to let you go. Before I do, is there anything else that you want to share? We can close out this episode, but knowing that there’s people leaders in prevention on this school counselors, principals, coalition leaders, is there anything else that you didn’t get to say that maybe you’d want to share?

[00:28:57] Devin Duncan: I think the biggest thing that I always share is that sometimes the road may be a little rough. Maybe you have this kid that you have a lot of passionate one and are just kind of not giving it a share. Just keep the faith keep holding on keep trying to impact them. And I love that you said is you can’t force change. And it reminds me of something that I learned at CAC. And it says, although we’re equipping you with the strategies, it’s up to you to take the strategies home and implement them in your community. I think it’s the same principle that you’re saying here. You can’t force somebody to do something, you can’t force someone to want to change want to make an impact in their life, but you can do everything that you can show them that they’re capable of doing that in a fight. We equip them with the sharp edges to do that. And that’s what I would focus on, especially right now as we look at how COVID-19 and I hate to say it, but it’s really impacted you. And so it really is important to have that adult and kids lie to share the passion, share the impact, let them know that their potential is there. And so just keep holding on is what I like to say. And then there may be some bumps, there may be some setbacks, but keep going on, but also realize that you can’t force someone to change. And so empower those voices, make those safe spaces, and keep being that adult that champion for that student, that kid cousin, family member, son or daughter, whatever it might be keep being that person because I promise you it is making an impact.

“The Key to Effective Prevention”

[00:30:34] Jake White: I love talking with you. Before we let you go, is there anything that ways that we can keep in touch with you or anything you’re looking for whether it’s emails, jobs, whatever it is, any way that we can help you please let us know, or any ways that you want to stay in contact with people in the prevention field would love for you to share that?

[00:30:56] Devin Duncan: Sure. So my email is going to be my first name. And I don’t know if you’d be able to see my name, it’s devinduncan829@gmail.com and my LinkedIn is just my first name last name dddevinduncan. So I always love when people reach out to me that’s how Jake reached out to me. He found my LinkedIn he sent me a message and followed up via email and I hear now. So if there is an opportunity out there, you’re interested in speaking with me maybe you want to give me some feedback or some alternative to what I’ve shared here. I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn or connect with you via email. He and I’m always open to all opportunities. I love to say I love that you said there was an opportunity I’m always open all opportunities whether it’s a conversation just like this a phone call whether email conversation. I’m always open to it, I respond, I actually checked by email and I respond to my email. So don’t hesitate to send me an email because you will get a response out of me. And I’d love to connect with anyone. You know, this is obviously a topic that I’m very passionate about. And so anytime that someone picks my passion, it makes me smile. And I love what you said, I could talk to you all day because I could do the same.

[00:32:16] Jake White: Well, this was incredible. I would second that, I messaged Devin, a day later, you know, we had email chain going on, and we decided to do a podcast episode together. And I know I’m going to see him around at Cadka, I’m going to be following all the great work he’s doing in his community. So just second that follow him on LinkedIn. If not just to inspire you every day to keep doing what you’re doing. So I will leave you at that. And for everyone listening, I hope that you enjoyed this episode of Party Talk. I hope that you feel empowered to keep doing the work that you’re doing. And if you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast. Leave us a review to let us know what you think. And also send us those people that you want us to interview because this is what it’s all about supporting each other. We are a team. No one can do it alone. So let’s make some change.