ALCOHOL, DARE EDUCATION IS NECESSARY EFFORT

Unfortunately, alcohol and drugs are a part of many teenagers lives.
They are factors in wrecks that kill and maim teenagers and other
drivers, no matter what age the person behind the wheel.

Hundreds of Comal County fifth graders are receiving their
end-of-semester Drugs and Alcohol Resistance Education completion
certificates. Comal County Sheriff's Office sponsors the program in
some Comal Independent School District schools. At New Braunfels High
School this week, officers presented the stark story of a San Antonio
high school valedictorian killed in a New Braunfels wreck in 2003
involving a drunk driver.

Presenting the tragic realities of alcohol and drug abuse is not a
pleasant thing for our children. But unless they are taught to avoid
this kind of behavior, then they can't know to turn in another direction.

DARE and the NBPD's high school program won't result in every child
avoiding a potentially deadly situation where they or some one they
are with drinks too much. But it is important that these education
efforts are made and reinforced.

At least two young New Braunfels men have been badly injured, perhaps
permanently, in recent wrecks where alcohol is believed to have been
a factor. We encourage law enforcement educators to continue
spreading their message warning our youth about the dangers of drug
and alcohol abuse and misuse and hope that the message sinks in.