About the Saman group

The history of the group is that at the turn of the year 1999-2000, a group of people got together and started a motivational campaign under the title "Family together at a turning point". The effort consisted, among other things, in the fact that postcards were distributed to people's homes, advertisements appeared in various media and articles were written in newspapers. The effort was repeated a year later and the group decided to continue working together on prevention in connection with events where there was likely to be an increase in the consumption of drugs among young people.

The group set the following goals.

• To increase the cooperation of people working on prevention. Those who are in charge of the group are bound to work in some way with and for children and teenagers. Is that work mainly related to prevention, upbringing, education, treatment and counseling.

• The group works to raise awareness of the threat posed to children and teenagers by the spread of alcohol and drugs in society, direct parents' attention to their responsibility for raising their children, and encourage positive family relationships. Messages have been conveyed in the media, through discussions and advertisements. The group emphasizes that its work benefits the entire rural area.

• The group's work aims to strengthen and support parents in their parenting role. The message is about the importance of responsibility for the care and upbringing of their children, and it emphasizes that parents spend as much time as possible with their children. Parents are therefore directed, in a clear way, not to buy or give alcohol to children - and it is pointed out that the national law sets the limit at the age of 20 - that the rules about outdoor time are respected and the dangers of unsupervised parties, outdoor festivals and consumption are pointed out of alcohol and other drugs puts their children in.

The success of a job like this is of course not immediately apparent. Patience is important when it comes to prevention. Prevention is really an investment for the future. What the SAMAN group primarily emphasizes is messages to parents, they are, after all, the most important in prevention work. The group believes it is putting the weapons in their hands by encouraging and informing them. The most important thing is that parents spend time with their children, know them very well and be their friends. When it comes to prevention, parents can be the best.

In early 2003, Björgvin Ólafsson, a graphic designer, was hired to design a logo for the group. In the cooperation of the group and in cooperation with others who work for prevention, the heart has often come into play. It was decided that the heart should continue to be a strong part of the group's image, since affection is a common thread in the work. The symbol SAMAN therefore seems to reflect well the work that the group stands for.