In my role as a university teacher educator, I teach my college students (who will be future teachers) about the necessity to teach young people about healthy lifestyle decision-making.  We focus a great deal, of course, with trying to get young people to adopt physically active lifestyles and find some sport/physical activity/exercise that provides a challenge and joy throughout life. We also discuss the need to teach young people about inappropriate decisions relative to drugs, alcohol, nutrition, sexual activity, and tobacco.

In my role as a parent of two young children, I was hit smack in the face recently as several young people from a nearby high school were fatalities in an auto accident where alcohol was involved. Listening and reading interviews with parents not much older than I am was both uncomfortable and truly heart breaking. Further, I am sure all of us can probably look back at our own youth and be thankful we were not injured or even killed in accidents involving young drivers (with or without alcohol involvement).

The statistics are sobering. Our local newscast shared that deaths associated with vehicular accidents in Virginia were decreasing when passengers were wearing seat belts. Unfortunately, the same newscast shared that too many young people are not wearing seat belts and the overall death rate has actually increased.

If there is anything positive I found while compiling this PELinks section is that information concerning healthy lifestyle choices is readily available. Unfortunately, while "a little knowledge goes along way"is a trite statement we hear too often, because young people KNOW to wear seat belts, and KNOW to drive safely, and KNOW to not drive after drinking. So a little knowledge is clearly not enough.

Jon Poole
Secondary Section Editor

National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) is scheduled for April 8, 2004.

The program is conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Screening for Mental Health, Inc. Nearly 40 other organizations are NASD sponsors, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The theme of NASD is "Alcohol and your health: Where do you draw the line?"

The intent is to raise public awareness about alcohol's effects on general health by providing a variety of educational materials and the opportunity to meet with a health care professional. NASD also educates people about the consequences of at-risk drinking and seeks to identify people who may be at particular risk for problems with alcohol.

A wide variety of colleges, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies host NASD events. They arrange screening sites in campus centers, shopping malls, and other community-based venues. At the sites, participants can receive a written screening questionnaire and the opportunity to meet with a health professional. Referrals for further evaluation and/or treatment are provided when appropriate.

For more information, visit NationalAlcoholScreeningDay.org

Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free was established to make childhood drinking prevention a national health priority.

A unique coalition of Governors' spouses, Federal agencies, and public and private organizations, the Leadership is the only national effort that specifically targets prevention of drinking in the 9- to 15-year-old age group.

In response to this national public health threat, Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free was launched in the spring of 1999 by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in partnership with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), to bring the scope and dangers of early alcohol use to the public's attention and to mobilize National, State, and local action to prevent it.

This multiyear, multimillion-dollar initiative provides support to participating Governors' spouses, who convey the initiative's messages within their States and nationally through State policy briefings, outreach to and through the media, broad distribution of educational materials and public service announcements, and personal appearances.

Alcohol use by 9- to 15-year-olds is an overlooked but very serious problem in the United States. Despite its known health and economic consequences, underage drinking is generally viewed as a normal part of growing up.

Unfortunately, the public is largely unaware both of the potentially harmful outcomes of early alcohol use and of the large numbers of underage drinkers, especially younger ones. The data on the onset of alcohol use at very young ages are compelling and demonstrate the need for a prevention campaign.

• More than one-fifth of 8th-graders and 42 percent of 10th-graders have been drunk at least once.
• According to a recent survey, twice as many eighth-graders drink as use illegal drugs. About 64 percent more eighth-graders drink than smoke.
• Almost one-fourth of ninth-graders report binge drinking in the past month.
• Among ninth-graders, girls consume alcohol and binge drink at rates almost equal to those of boys.

Research is beginning to reveal that early alcohol use can have serious adverse consequences for mental, physical, and social development that may persist into adulthood.

For example, research shows that 40 percent of individuals who begin drinking alcohol before age 13 will manifest alcohol abuse or dependence at some point in their lives.

The most recent studies indicate that alcohol may actually impair cognitive functioning in young users, causing them to remember 10 percent less of what they learn than their nondrinking peers. Early alcohol use is often associated with poor school performance, depression, and suicide; criminal and violent behavior; and risk-taking that can lead to injuries and death as well as early sexual activity, with exposure to sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned teen pregnancies.

• Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free