Prevention isn't about fear. It's about knowing what's worth keeping.
En junio, el alcalde Felipe Alessandri recorrió las escuelas de Lo Barnechea no como figura de autoridad, sino como interlocutor, sentándose con estudiantes para explorar lo que los sostiene y lo que los pone en riesgo. El municipio inauguró así su Mes de Prevención con una premisa poco común: que protegerse del consumo de sustancias no comienza con el miedo, sino con el conocimiento de lo que uno quiere cuidar. En una época en que la salud mental juvenil exige respuestas más profundas que las campañas tradicionales, Lo Barnechea apuesta por construir redes, no muros.
- El consumo de alcohol y drogas entre jóvenes sigue siendo una presión silenciosa en las comunidades escolares, y Lo Barnechea decidió enfrentarla con presencia directa, no con afiches.
- El alcalde y funcionarios municipales recorrieron varios colegios en un solo día, creando una interrupción positiva en la rutina: espacios donde los estudiantes podían pensar en voz alta sobre sus propias decisiones.
- Los talleres transformaron la prevención en un ejercicio colectivo, con dinámicas de equipo y un 'escudo' simbólico donde cada grupo escribió, con sus propias palabras, lo que quería proteger en su vida.
- El programa Ponte Vivo amplió el foco más allá de las drogas: la salud mental, el autocuidado y las redes de apoyo personal fueron el verdadero centro de la conversación.
- Lo Barnechea proyecta sostener estas actividades durante todo el mes y promueve la Casa Joven como espacio concreto donde los jóvenes puedan canalizar su energía de forma saludable.
El alcalde Felipe Alessandri comenzó junio recorriendo las escuelas de Lo Barnechea con un propósito poco ceremonial: sentarse con los estudiantes y hablar de lo que realmente les pesa. Era el inicio del Mes de Prevención municipal, y la apuesta era clara desde el principio: no advertir, sino conversar.
Junto a directores municipales y concejales, Alessandri lideró sesiones interactivas diseñadas para que los jóvenes reflexionaran en lugar de escuchar. Se les pidió que identificaran los momentos en que se sentían atraídos por el riesgo, pero también aquellos en que algo —una persona, un proyecto, un vínculo— los sostenía. El alcohol y las drogas aparecieron en la conversación, pero no como el centro: lo que importaba era descubrir qué los protegía.
Una de las actividades más significativas fue el 'escudo' del programa Ponte Vivo. Cada grupo de estudiantes eligió un tema —las personas que los apoyan, las decisiones que los cuidan, lo que quieren preservar— y uno o dos representantes escribieron en él una frase propia. No un eslogan, sino algo verdadero.
Lo que el municipio está construyendo es una nueva manera de entender la prevención: no como campaña contra las drogas, sino como fortalecimiento de lo que ya existe en cada joven. Si sabes a quién acudir, si tienes actividades que te importan, si conoces lo que quieres proteger, el riesgo disminuye. La Oficina de Prevención tiene más talleres programados para el mes, y la Casa Joven ofrece un espacio concreto para que esa energía encuentre cauce. El mensaje final es que esta tarea no le pertenece solo al alcalde ni a las escuelas: la prevención, dice el municipio, es algo que hacemos entre todos.
Mayor Felipe Alessandri spent the morning moving through Lo Barnechea's schools, not to cut ribbons or pose for photographs, but to sit with students and talk about the things that pull at them—the pressures, the choices, the people who matter. It was June, the start of Prevention Month in the municipality, and the message was simple: caring for yourself and each other is how you stay safe.
Alessandri arrived alongside municipal directors and city council members, moving from one school to the next with the Prevention Office, leading what they called interactive sessions. The format was deliberate. Rather than lecturing, they created space for students to think out loud. They asked the young people to consider their own decisions, to map the moments when they felt pulled toward risk and the moments when they felt held by something solid—a friend, a family member, a goal that mattered to them.
The conversation ranged wider than the title suggested. Yes, alcohol and drugs came up. But the real work was about something deeper: the students were asked to identify what protected them. What gave them reasons to take care of themselves? Who did they trust? What did they want to build or protect in their own lives? The sessions moved between reflection and action. Students worked in teams, answering questions about alcohol use, competing in a game that turned prevention into something less like a warning and more like a puzzle to solve together.
Toward the end of each session, the program called Ponte Vivo introduced what they called an escudo—a shield. Each group of students claimed one theme: the people who support us, the things that make us feel good, the decisions that protect us, the things we want to safeguard in our lives. Then, one or two representatives from each group stepped forward and wrote a message on the shield. Not a slogan. A real sentence. Something that meant something to them.
What emerged from the day was a shift in how prevention itself was being framed. The municipality wasn't positioning this as a campaign against drugs. Instead, they were building a conversation about mental health, about self-care, about the networks that hold us up. The idea was that if you strengthen those things—if you know who you can talk to, if you have activities that matter to you, if you understand what you're protecting—then the risk of turning to substances becomes less likely. Prevention, in this framing, is not about fear. It's about knowing what's worth keeping.
The Prevention Office has scheduled more workshops and activities throughout the month. The municipality is also promoting the Casa Joven, a youth center designed to give young people somewhere to direct their energy and time. The message being sent is that this work doesn't belong to the mayor alone, or to the schools alone. It belongs to everyone. Prevention, as the municipality put it, is something we all do together.
Notable Quotes
Prevention is caring for yourself and each other. Let's keep caring for one another to build a better community.— Mayor Felipe Alessandri
Prevention is not just about talking drugs—it's about mental health, self-care, and the networks that hold us up.— Lo Barnechea Prevention Office
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why frame this as prevention month rather than just an anti-drug campaign?
Because students already know drugs are bad. What they don't always know is why they matter, what they're protecting, who they can lean on. The month creates permission to talk about the harder stuff—loneliness, pressure, what makes you feel alive.
The shield exercise seems almost poetic for a municipal health program.
It is. They're not asking kids to list dangers. They're asking them to name what's worth keeping. That's a completely different conversation. A student writes "my soccer team" or "my mom's trust" on that shield, and suddenly prevention isn't abstract.
Did the mayor's presence change the tone?
Probably. When the person running the city shows up to listen to teenagers talk about their lives, it signals that this isn't a box to check. It matters enough to take his time.
What happens after June?
The Casa Joven stays open. The networks they built in these sessions—between students, between students and adults—those don't disappear. Prevention isn't a month. It's infrastructure.
Do you think the game format actually works, or is it just engagement theater?
Games work because they let people think without performing. You're answering questions about alcohol, but you're doing it as a team, with some distance. You're not confessing. You're problem-solving. That's when real reflection happens.