Here’s a stat to get you in the Christmas spirit. 80% of Fremont County teens reported not using alcohol in the past 30 days. Yes! This means that the majority of Fremont County teens understand the risks associated with alcohol.
Youth who drink alcohol are more likely to experience:
- School problems, such as higher rates of absences or lower grades
- Social problems, such as fighting or lack of participation in youth activities
- Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk
- Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses
- Unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity
- Disruption of normal growth or sexual development
- Physical and sexual violence
- Increased risk of suicide and homicide
- Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, or drowning
- Memory problems
- Misuse of other substances
- Changes in brain development that may have life-long effects
- Alcohol poisoning
- https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm
There are so many more positive things in life that outweigh these risks and make it easy to “just say no”.
Surrounding yourself with positive friends and activities gives you the extra advantage to have a safe and sober holiday break. Looking at the Sources of Strength wheel, we can see that half of it is related to family support, positive friends, mentors, and healthy activities. This wheel shows you the strengths to look for in your life so you can be happy, healthy, and feel supported. Whether you’re looking toward your own strengths or providing strengths for others in need, it’s important to realize which spokes of the wheel work for you.
Make this holiday break count. Connect with friends and family, have fun, relax, and have a very Merry Christmas! Let’s carry our strengths into the New Year and make 2021 the best year yet.
