Thursday, February 13, 2014
Dear Editor,
Hello, my name is Rachel May and I am a student at Friday Harbor High School. My goal in this letter is to raise awareness about teen drinking and binge drinking. I believe this is an important subject to bring to light because I have seen binge drinking effect some of my friends, even when they aren’t the ones doing it.
Drinking does not just affect you, but those around you.
I am not attending the Spring Street School but I am helping the Rock Solid Youth Group make posters and coming up with power points, to raise awareness about teen drinking. We have made a few songs and poems about how teen drinking affects everyone. The name of the song is #underage. We are going to be presenting the song to the community in the future and have shared it on the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition Facebook page. We also will be asking our local Sheriff’s Office to help us in spreading these messages. As many people know, it is illegal to supply alcohol to minors, and as a minor to drink it. However, around school, I still hear about teens who have been drunk.
Some part of teen drinking and binge drinking being such a problem is lack of education or awareness to it’s dangers. Did you know that binge drinking is considered having 4 to 5 drinks in one sitting? Alcohol has also been known to lead to life threatening diseases, it is not only a temporary buzz.
I’m hoping this letter helped inform you, and we encourage you to help us in joining the cause in raising awareness. Anyone can help, by encouraging friends and family not to binge drink or supply alcohol to minors (or if you are a minor not to drink alcohol). Please don’t binge drink, it affects more than just you.
Thank you and sincerely,
Rachel May
Rock Solid Youth Group/ San Juan Island Prevention Coalition