TEENS NEED GUIDANCE IN MAKING CHOICES

As drug prevention specialist for the Amarillo High cluster, I am
especially concerned about students and the choices they make during the
time of prom and graduation.

Several community- and state-sponsored programs help us focus on the
destructiveness of wrong choices and emphasize the importance of abstaining
from the use of alcohol and other drugs. Two are the Nationwide Insurance
Company Prom Promise project and the Service Corporation International's
"Every 15 Minutes" program.

In addition, the Texas Department of Transportation encourages safe
graduation events by giving funding to school-sponsored graduation
celebrations.

All of these work together to ensure that students get the consistent
message from our community that drinking is not the way to celebrate
special events for people younger than 21.

It has been my privilege to work with Nationwide Insurance on its Prom
Promise project for the past three years. This program seeks to encourage
students to take a stand for doing what is right and legal during both prom
and graduation. Schools register with Nationwide Insurance and, without
charge, receive a manual of ideas on how to implement the program, cards
for students to sign and incentives for students who do sign the Promise.

Anyone in high school can sign the Prom Promise, which states:

"I can have a positive influence on my life and the lives of my friends. My
decisions are my own, and they are responsible ones. That's why I have
decided to be safe and sober.

"So whether or not I go to the prom, I promise not to use alcohol or other
drugs. This is a promise I take seriously. It's one I intend to keep, for
my sake and the sake of my friends and family.

"I'm signing it. I mean it. I'm keeping it."

Since we have used this program in our school for the past three years, we
have not had an alcohol-related fatality during end-of-school activities.

The powerful Every 15 Minutes program, which has been done by Tascosa, Palo
Duro and Amarillo high schools during the past three years, only can be
accomplished with the collaboration of many interested community members.
This program helps students see the drastic consequences of using alcohol.
After students view a simulated alcohol-related crash scene, they hear in
an assembly the far-reaching effects of such actions.

These activities stress consequences and the benefits of making right,
legal decisions concerning alcohol and drug use. Students see the
connection between their actions and the ways these can impact their lives
and the lives of those around them.

My sincere thanks go to Nationwide Insurance for its Prom Promise program
and to all the community people who make the Every 15 Minutes program such
a valuable experience for our students: Memorial Park, Schooler-Gordon
Funeral Homes, Northwest Texas Hospital, the Amarillo Police and Fire
departments, youth ministers from various churches, the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, and many others.

I'm grateful to live in a community that values youth and is willing to
show by their actions they care about our teens. Our community is not
unified in its approach to teen drinking, however.

When I read in the paper that minors can purchase alcohol more than 50
percent of the time in our city, I know there is still work to be done.