OLYMPIA -- As the new school year gets underway and students reconnect with friends, parents should realize how important it is to keep talking about the dangers of alcohol and other drug use.

School can be a dangerous place for kids when parents don't learn that lesson.

"Parents have the power to keep their teens safe and healthy – but many don't know it," said Doug Allen, Director of the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse in the Department of Social and Health Services.

He said strong parental guidance is a major factor in helping teens avoid experimenting with drugs.

"In fact, studies show that not wanting to disappoint their parents is the main reason kids give for not drinking or using other drugs," Allen added.

• During 2006, one out of four Washington 10th graders surveyed said they were drunk in the past 30 days, and one out five was drunk or high at school in the past year – a 28 percent increase since 2004.
• A recent national survey from The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University revealed that 80 percent of high school students and 44 percent of middle school students attend schools where they have personally witnessed illegal drug use, illegal drug dealing, illegal drug possession, students drunk and/or students high on the grounds of their school.

On a more positive note, Allen said Washington State parents can find help in school districts that are implementing evidence-based prevention programs and working with trained Intervention Specialists to address the high prevalence of alcohol and other drug use.

Parents can help by working with those districts to support prevention programs and help spread consistent messages at home and in their communities.

Allen said alcohol kills more kids than all other drugs combined, but drinking is not the only threat. He said more teens recently have started abusing prescription drugs to get high, believing "medicines" would be safer than alcohol.

Research shows that when parents talk with their kids early and often about the ways alcohol and other drugs can ruin their health and their future, kids are less likely to use. Parents also reduce the risk of teen drug use when they:

• Set clear rules and consequences for alcohol and other drug use.
• Talk about how alcohol and other drugs can affect brain development.
• Monitor teen's activities and ask questions.
• Follow through with consequences if rules are broken.
• Make sure kids do not have access to alcohol and prescription drugs in the home.

Parents can get tips on the Web by visiting www.StartTalkingNow.orgFree, confidential information about alcohol and other drug prevention programs, and state-funded addiction treatment, is available by calling 1-800-662-9111.

Washington's Healthy Youth Survey:

Results from the biannual survey of schoolchildren in the state are posted at: http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/mediareleases/2007/pr07030.shtml

For Additional Background, Contact:

Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-7604 (Pager: 360-971-4067).