Century Council Blog
Dr. Wolf: Back to school means back to the future for teens
Originally posted in The Globe and Mail
As a carefree summer comes to an end, teens need reassurance as they return to the pressures of school
How I Spent my Summer Vacation, by Jason Lovesey:
I had a really cool summer. What I liked best was that I stayed up every night until 3:30 and never – not once – got up before noon. What did I do that late, you might ask. I went on Facebook. I talked to my friends. I watched videos.
What else did I do with my time? I drove around with my friends a lot. We partied. I won’t lie to you, I used substances that I’m not supposed to. I did stuff with Reyna – you know what I mean – until we broke up. But we weren’t officially going together anyway. And I played video games a lot. I mean a lot. I tried to get a summer job, but you know how the economy is and all. So I mean it wasn’t my fault that I had so much uninterrupted fun time.
Going back to school can be a shock. For most students, the shift from carefree summer to school brings a number of unwelcome changes. Teens may differ in how they appear to greet the new school year. They may be unhappy:
Rep. Heath Shuler and Ask Listen Learn!
Now that school’s back in session, Ask, Listen Learn is back visiting schools! Today we visited Erwin Middle School in Asheville, NC with Congressman Heath Shuler!
We had a great time with the kids, and it’s always a pleasure to revisit Asheville. We’d like to thank Principal Hathaway and everyone at Erwin Middle School, and Congressman Shuler for his consistent support!
Girl Talk and Atlanta Dream Sleepover
As a special treat right before the school season's start, Girl Talk and the WNBA's Atlanta Dream team held a sleepover sponsored by The Century Council for 300 middle school girls.
After the basketball game, the girls were invited to spend the night and take part in lots of fun activities meant to inspire and empower the girls to believe in themselves enough to make the good choices needed to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Included in the activities were meet and greets with the Atlanta Dream players and cheerleaders, as well as our very own Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking lesson plan and Ask, Listen, Learn interactive activity.
It was a fun night for all involved!
EMF and The Century Council
Today, The Century Council met with George Washington University's school, police, and hospital staff as well as the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF).
According to Mary Pat McKay, MD, Director of the Center for Injury Prevention and Control at GW, there are 600,000 visits to the emergency room per year for drinking-related situations.
GWU and its community make a concerted effort to stop binge drinking on their campus by joining forces with their local police force, hospital staff, university staff, and even the students and their parents. A common goal between all of the GWU community was simple: education for parents and students alike. Education to prevent binge drinking as well as intervention education if a student has been to the hospital for a drinking-related incident are key to stopping binge drinking.
Thank you to EMF and GWU for having us today!
Back to school!
It’s time to head back to school! Today, kids in the Washington DC area are trudging back to school. A whole bunch of kids have already headed back, while millions more will do so soon.
There are many ways to get your kid ready – school supplies, clothes, perhaps a lunchbox. Telling your kid to study hard, and the importance of education – you can’t forget that.
But another important way to get your kid ready is to talk about alcohol. Transition periods- such as new environments, new people, and new circumstances – are times where kids are very vulnerable to trying alcohol.
Since a new school year is often such a transition, you should make sure to talk to your teen about the dangers of alcohol (PDF), ways to say no to alcohol, and ways to stay busy and active. Help make sure that your kid’s school year will be an opportunity for growth and learning.
How to stop a drunk driver
Let’s say it’s late Friday night. You’re walking past a popular bar in town, and see 3 or 4 guys, clearly drunk, leaving the bar and heading towards the parking lot. As you watch, they head towards a car, clearly intending to drive home. What do you do?
Or let’s say you’re driving down the highway, Saturday afternoon. For the past couple minutes, you’ve been seeing a car ahead of you swerve slightly in his lane. The car seems to be swerving more and more. The driver is clearly not fit to drive, and yet he’s on the road. What do you do?
Don’t try to intervene. Just call 911.
A recent article in Omaha World-Herald featured a man who reported a drunk driver to the police, but wished that he had done more later, after the driver crashed. But had he done so, he would have put himself and others in danger.
You should make every attempt to keep a friend from getting behind the wheel, but it’s risky to try and stop somebody you don’t know. Don’t try to physically stop them, just call the police, giving them the license plate number and a description of the vehicle. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way in trying to keep them off the road.
Same for vehicles on the road. Call 911 and give them a description. Maintain a safe distance behind the driver. There’s very little you can do to safely get him off the road, so leave it for the police.
Thoughts? Things you’d add? Drop us an e-mail at info@centurycouncil.org