|
( Paramus , NJ ) November 6, 2006 - The phone rings early on a Saturday. Tired and bleary-eyed, you groggily pick it up. It's the friend whose party you were at last night. You don't want to believe what you're hearing. Leaving the party, three of your friends got into a car, but didn't make it home. They were in a horrible drunk driving accident.
This nightmare scenario is one of the most severe and permanent consequences of a reckless and dangerous decision. And the fact is, it happens all too often. On any given weekend, one in ten drivers on America's roads have been drinking, and 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol related. Parents' trust, a driver's license, a future job, the life of a friend, all can be lost in the blink of an eye, just from one bad choice.
Recognizing that teenage drinking is at an all-time high, and the need for prevention and awareness is great, Children's Aid and Family Services is offering PRIME for Life courses at its Ridgewood office. PRIME for Life is a four-session
workshop for teenagers designed to gently, but powerfully, challenge common beliefs and attitudes that directly contribute to high-risk alcohol and drug use. This course strives to get teenagers to think about consequences of excessive drinking and other substance abuse.
The course doesn't preach, or offer vague "drinking is bad" admonishments. It uses hard data. According to research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, adolescents who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. It has been estimated that more than three million teenagers suffer from alcoholism, and several million more have a serious drinking problem that they cannot manage on their own.
In many states, such as Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Utah, PRIME for Life is mandatory for minors caught in possession of alcohol, for public drinking, and for drunk driving offenders.
"The workshop is designed to provide teens and young adults with education about the risks of drugs and alcohol," says Tricia DeBartolome, vice president, family and community services. "It's a prevention model backed by years of research and has proven to be effective. We believe this program will help young people make safe and responsible decisions. We're very pleased to be the only organization in New Jersey offering this workshop."
A variety of unique, hands-on techniques are used to illustrate the dangers of high-risk drinking. For example, the first exercise involves each participant writing a list
of things they care about. The participants are then told that a tragedy has struck and they
must give up three things on the list. The exercise continues until the participants realize how much bad decisions involving drug and alcohol abuse can cost them. Other exercises involve interactive role-play, and viewing educational and informative DVDs.
PRIME for Life will be offered at the agency's Ridgewood office, located at 148 Prospect Street, on Wednesdays starting November 29. Additional dates are December 6, 13, and 20. Each workshop will be from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
For more information, or to sign up for the workshop, please call 201-445-7015. You can also register online at www.cafsnj.org.
Children's Aid and Family Services is one of the largest regional, nonprofit human services organizations serving northern New Jersey. The agency is fully accredited and has more than 100 years of experience in building futures for children, families, and communities. Its mission is to help children, families, and communities to heal, to learn, and to grow.
|
