Ray Bauer was the principal of Milford High School in Ohio. He cared so deeply about students that he even worried when they sat alone during lunch. Bauer passed away suddenly last August, but not before starting the Coalition for a Drug Free Milford-Miami Township.

"Since Bauer's sudden death in August the coalition, which is composed of local officials, students and school administrators, has continued to meet and recently launched a campaign designed to show teens and pre-teens that underage drinking isnt as prevalent as they might believe," area newspaper The Community Press reported

Studies have found that 77 percent of teenagers don't drink -- and these students are the coalition's focus, the paper reported. The group has passed out flyers, is making t-shirts and wristbands to promote its message, and is developing sixth-grade-level curriculum about alcohol abuse and prevention.

Labels: prevention, community_programs, ohio, middle_school

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Information about alcohol use is usually focused on teens and college students, and sometimes on middle school students. But six years ago, John Donovan started gathering information about alcohol use among students in fourth through sixth grades.

"In one national survey, for instance, about 10 percent of fourth-graders and 29 percent of sixth-graders said they'd had more than a sip of alcohol. In a survey in New York State, 21 percent of fifth- and sixth-graders reported having a drink of alcohol at some point, including 7 percent who had drunk liquor, as distinct from beer or wine."

Though conclusions are difficult to draw, Donovan hopes the initial information will move people to dig deeper into alcohol trends among younger students. One thing that is known: a person who starts drinking before the age of 15 is five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life.

Teen alcohol abuse can be prevented. Visit DrugRehabTreatment.com to learn how to help your teenager.

Labels: middle_school, children, trends

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Inhalant abuse is often overlooked, despite the fact that nearly 20 percent of young people have experimented with them at least once by the time they're in eighth grade. Inhalant abuse involves breathing in the fumes from a substance such as glue, solvents, fuel, Freon, or paint thinners.

"Use of these chemicals can produce a euphoric feeling similar to that experienced with other illicit drugs. The effects of the inhalant are intensified when breathing from a closed bag."

Though the long-term damage caused by huffing isn't known, the short-term damage is easy to determine. Some speculate that long-term exposure causes brain damage, and damage to the central nervous system. Read more at BentonEveningNews.com.

Private boarding schools offer a structured environment for kids who may find themselves with too much free time on their hands. Find one at BoardingSchoolsInfo.com.

Labels: middle_school, drug_abuse, experimentation

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A four-year study of 1246 middle school children found that even one cigarette a month can lead to addiction.

Dr. Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center found that two-thirds of the children in the study who had tried cigarettes smoked at least once a month. Half of them experienced symptoms of cravings and dependence when they tried to quit.

• Dr. DiFranza said his study found that after two years, one-third of the students who had tried cigarettes had little control over their habit.
• As time went by, they were likely to smoke cigarettes more often, and became irritable and experienced difficulty concentrating when they were deprived of nicotine.
• After three years, one in four students who tried to stop smoking experienced withdrawal symptoms.

This study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: tobacco use, addiction, middle_school, cigarettes

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