Encourage Safe Celebration This Graduation & Summer Season

Lakeland, FL - Teens and alcohol or drugs are combustible combinations. This time of year, when kids are attending proms and graduation celebrations, is especially volatile. There may be more pressure to end the school year on a "high" note by partying with illicit drugs, alcohol, or even prescription drugs.

How will your teen celebrate? Statistics from a recent study released by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the MetLife Foundation show that the percent of teens who say that their friends get high at parties increased from 69 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2009. The study further reported that 56 percent of teens believe Rx drugs are easier to obtain than illegal drugs, and more than half (55.9%) of people who use Rx drugs non-medically say they got the drugs from a friend or relative for free. The National Study on Drug Use and Health Report also reports that there is significant increase in first time use of marijuana during the summer months.

What's a parent to do? You want your child to enjoy the freedoms that come with the end of school, graduation and summer time, but it is important to encourage fun within certain parameters. Parents, YOU are in the best position to help your child make good decisions. It is critical that you be firm, clear and consistent when talking with your teens about drinking and drug use, and make sure they know they'll be held accountable for their actions.

Here are a few simple tips, offered by the partners of StandUP Polk, the Coalition for a Drug-Free Polk, on what you and the parents in your community can do to keep teens safe during upcoming graduation celebrations and throughout the summer months:

• Set clear rules about no drug and alcohol use, establish consequences, and reinforce expectations.
• Talk to your child about peer pressure and provide them with strategies to resist it.
• Provide safe, fun alternatives such as chaperoned alcohol and drug-free graduation and summer parties.
• Be aware and ask questions; know who your teen will be with, where they will be, and at what times.
• Be sure that teens know that one bad choice to use drugs or alcohol can change their lives forever.
• Be a good role model.

For more information on talking with your teens about the dangers of substance abuse, call StandUP Polk at (863) 802-0777. Visit the interactive Be The Wall web site at www.bethewall.com and take the pledge to keep alcohol out of the hands of teens so they will enjoy a safe, happy, and alcohol and drug-free graduation and summer season.