Newsletter Reprint

We all want a healthy community, one in which we are all safe and happy. Too often, though, we are silent about unacceptable behaviors because we don't want to rock the boat or we don't know what to say. Out silence conveys acceptance. To truly change community norms about drinking and other drug use, there needs to be change on a personal, family, and community level. Individuals need to be responsible for their own behavior and speak out about unacceptable or unsafe behaviors or practices that they have knowledge of.

What do you think you would do in the following situations?

• There is a tradition at the high school of giving teens engraved wine glasses or beer steins at their senior ball. Earlier in the week, these same teens attended an assembly on the dangers of drinking and driving.
   
• The local church is strapped for money and has had prizes donated by the beer and tobacco companies to be won by contestants at the annual bazaar. Your 12 year-old son wins a Budwiser beer funnel. Research has shown that brand loyalty starts at the time a child can read. Some kids in the sixth grade are smoking and drinking. Your own son wants you to buy some ginger ale on the way home so he can pretend he is drinking beer.
   
• Your sister's son loves playing the bartender at family parties bringing everyone a "coldie." You notice that he is sipping beer out of each can as he brings it from the cooler. Your sister thinks its no big deal. You know that a child's liver and other organs cannot process alcohol like an adult.
   
• Your son's best friend's parents are throwing a high school graduation party and will have a keg there. The parents would rather have the kids at home than on the road. One parent tells you, "We're breaking the law for safety's sake." You just read an article about alcohol poisoning and teens.
   
• Your at a party and recognize that another guest is unfit to drive because of excessive drinking. Your hosts do not seem concerned. You hate to make a scene and yet…

We all have a responsibility to speak up and to speak out about those things we find unacceptable. We can never assume that someone else will. We can make others aware of the issue. Community norms change when many people and groups work together toward a common goal. We hope you will join us in working to promote healthy choices. Theodore Roosevelt said, "This country will not be a good place to live in… unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in."

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