FOR PARENTS

A new study released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America reveals a troubling new insight into the reasons why teens use drugs. Click here to read full report and start helping your teen to find healthy ways to reduce stress!

Here is a super resource on how to talk to your teen and reduce stress.

Parent support group - call Sarah at 463-8977 for support group contact and meeting details. This is a group of Newburyport parents who felt there was no place for them to talk to other parents who may be going through the same thing they are with their teens, so they created a group and now they're talking to each other!

Excellent website for parents!
Visit www.theantidrug.com

Community Survey - Soon to online.
Please check back for link to community survey.

Access to Alcohol
There is a new national campaign to reduce underage drinking by focusing on the social sources that may provide teens with access to alcohol. Click here and explore the website We Don't Serve Teens.

Click here to read press accounts that tell not only what happens when adults serve alcohol to teens, but also how some communities are responding to illegal drinking among teens.

Talk to your 5th or 6th grader NOW!

Read Alcohol Alert Number 67 published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read Tweens make choices that affect their lives forever. An informative article made available through the Center for Disease Control.

Read Start Talking. Now is the time to talk to your 5th or 6th grader!

Have a child between the ages of 11 and 13?
The Cool Spot was created for kids 11-13 years old by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The NIAAA is the lead U.S. agency supporting research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of alcohol problems. It is a component of the National Institutes of Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The content of The Cool Spot is based on a curriculum for grades 6-8 developed by the University of Michigan. The curriculum was created for the Alcohol Misuse Prevention Study (AMPS), a large-scale project supported by NIAAA.

One goal of AMPS was to give young teens a clearer picture about alcohol use among their peers. Teens tend to overestimate how much kids their age really drink. When they learn more accurate information, some of the pressure to drink can subside. Other goals of AMPS were to help kids learn skills to resist pressure to drink and to give them reasons not to drink. The Cool Spot incorporates AMPS goals in these and other features.

Here is a website you will want your child to spend time visiting! Click here to visit the Cool Spot and go through the interactive site if you are curious or would like to have some conversation points, then invite your child to visit the site and see what they think.

Be a part of the National Movement to bring awareness to families, communities, and educators about the Dangers of Underage Drinking. The Surgeon's Call to Action has specific guidelines for families. Read this report: A Call to Action for Families.

Have a child between the ages of 9 and 13?

Visit the interactive site Too Smart to Start for information about alcohol use and prevention created for parents, caregivers, and youth ages 9-13.

Have teens that need answers about drugs?

http://teens.drugabuse.gov/mom/index.asp for general information about drugs

Have teens that have questions about their rights and the law?

Click here for answers.

Have teens that want to be involved or take a stand?

www.the84.org for youth anti-smoking campaign

www.utakeitback.org for a youth directed movement to reduce alcohol problems

For teen approach to peer pressure, anti-drug messages and the media, personal stories, online games, and message boards visit www.freevibe.com

Great site for teens and parents if you can access the PBS channel for In the Mix.

www.pbs.org for the schedule of In the Mix, an national award winning TV series for teens and by teens!