Parents Should Not Encourage Teen Drinking

It’s prom and graduation season – a time for celebration that is too often marred by the frequently fatal consequences of illegal underage drinking. One bad decision can result in tragedy for the young person, as well as his or her family, friends, and our entire community.

May 2010 has been proclaimed “Parents who Host, Lose the Most Month” by many communities in hopes of producing a countywide initiative that aims to reduce underage drinking. Approximately 65 percent of teens obtain the alcohol they drink from their parents, friends’ parents, siblings, or older friends, with or without permission. The good news is that among 10-18 year olds, 65 percent cite their parents as the leading influence for them not to drink. Today we are asking for everyone in the community to help make prom and graduation night safe for teens by following these tips:

Þ    Do not serve or allow alcohol at any party you are hosting: an adult who provides alcohol to a minor is breaking the law and risking that teen’s life.  The legal drinking age is 21.

Þ    For parents and guardians: Know where your teenager is attending a party; verify there will be parental supervision, and that it will be alcohol-free. Make it clear that you do NOT approve of them drinking alcohol. Make sure you keep up with your teen’s plan for prom and/or graduation night as they continuously change.

Þ    Educate yourself on the risks associated with underage drinking and its proven harmful effects on the still developing brain. The brain is maturing until the mid-20’s; students who wait until age 21 to drink are 84 percent less likely to develop an addiction than those who start earlier.

Þ    Encourage our seniors to attend their high school All Night Graduation Celebration by supporting it through donations or your volunteer time that night. Call your local high school for the contact person.

Þ    Parents should remind their child that alcohol consumption before, during or after the prom is prohibited and violations will result in serious consequences.  A young person who displays signs and symptoms of being intoxicated on the way to the prom or upon arrival to the prom will not be allowed into the function but instead will have to wait for their parents to come and pick them up.  In the case of emergency situations, such as signs of alcohol poisoning, they will be taken by ambulance to the nearest emergency room.

Parents who provide alcohol for any underage children under the notion of preventing them from obtaining it illegally or to appear like the “cool “ parent  are violating the law and not doing children any favors. They should also be reminded that in the case of hosting parties, such parents can be held liable for any student who has an accident after leaving their home where the party was hosted. For that reason in particular, parents who host stand to lose the most.Please help protect our young adults’ bright futures by providing a safe, alcohol-free season of celebrations in our community.

— Phillip Lester and Judith Cohen

Student Assistance counselors for Columbia High School  May,  2010

Justice Helen E. Hoens
Class of 1972

She is a New Jersey Supreme Court Justice.

&

Robert Verdi
Class of 1986

Robert is a Stylist and Television Personality.

For a biography of each of your inductees please check out our website.

We will miss you guys and can not wait to see everyone after May 14th.

Gov. Christie’s budget calls for a 74% decrease in funding for statewide library services. This cut includes the elimination of all statewide library programs and services. This will affect all types of libraries in New Jersey even ours. Once state funding is eliminated, NJ will lose $4.5 million in federal funding. What does this mean to NJ residents? Once state and federal funding are lost the impact will be felt by all residents:

1. Access to electronic databases such as RefUSA and EBSCO will cease this includes CHS’s access to those databases which are some of our most popular databases.

2. Statewide interlibrary loan and delivery of library materials will cease

3. Public libraries will lose 50% of state aid at a time when demand for services is increasing dramatically.

4. More than half of public libraries will lose access to the Internet.

5. Many public libraries will lose email service.

6. Many public libraries will lose their websites or access to them,

7. The Talking Book and Braille Center (known as the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) will close. A number of our students will loose valuable  help and resources if this happens.

8. Group contracts which bring down the cost of other electronic resources purchased by libraries will cease which will hurt CHS because we belong to Infolink which provides the CHS staff with training and also discounted rates for databases and other services.

At the same time the state is eliminating funding for library programs.

Assemblyman John DiMaio has introduced A2555 which eliminates the minimum local funding requirement for municipal public libraries. Local library funding targeted in A2555 typically represents less than 3% of local property taxes. NJLA’s position is to recommend that funding for municipal libraries be listed as a dedicated tax, as is the case with county libraries and open space. The $10 million in library programs cut from the Governor’s budget represent little more than $1 per capita in state funds.

What can CHS do?

1. Fill out the Save NJ Libraries Postcard that we have at the circulation desk.

2. Contact your Legislatators about the cuts click here to do that.

3. Send a letter to the Star Ledger or News Record. Click here for a sample letter.

4. Become a Library Champion.Click here to join.

5 Go to the Save NJ Libraries Website for more ways to help.

Well check out the book trailers that I have found for you guys!

Book trailers are like movie trailer..they tell you just enough about the book to get you to want to know what is going to happen next. The book trailers that I found are made by either professionals like book publishers or by students or librarians. They are a great way to get to know a book. Enjoy them and please note that all of the book trailers that I have complied for you are for books that we have in the library.

Click here to go to our book trailer page and make sure to check it out often because I will keep updating it with new book trailers.

CHS what is your six-word memoir?

Click on this link to learn more about the project and to write yours. You can also come to the library and submit one.

Even if you do not have a fine please bring in canned goods.

Remember that if you are paying your fines it is one can per each dollar of fines. This does not include lost book fines.

If you have any questions or would like to donate even if you do not have a fine please come to the library.

Here is the list:

• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
• Wake by Lisa McMann (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Disney-Hyperion)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Here is a really great article about the website from the Local:

Introducing Columbia’s Newest Publication
By Ben Drucker

Students at Columbia High School have started a new Web publication, Academic Perspective. We asked Ben Drucker, the editor-in-chief, to describe it and how it came into being, and he submitted this post. You can become a fan of the publication on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter. Thanks, Ben!
Q.

What is Academic Perspective?
A.

Academic Perspective is an online news and editorial magazine written and created by high school students. We publish articles on topics ranging from politics and economics to popular culture. With a staff of over 10 writers, content is going up every day. In just over a week since its launch, Academic Perspective has become extremely popular and has grown faster than any of us could have imagined.

Q.

When did Academic Perspective start and who started it?
A.

The idea for Academic Perspective came to me about two months ago and really took off when I, along with two friends, began planning its launch in late September. I am the editor-in-chief, the site designer, and I take care of most of the administrative tasks. The two managing editors, fellow Columbia High School juniors Ben Donald and Seth Wolin, revise all our articles and help with administration. It took a lot of work to launch the site, going from a concept to a fully developed Web site in just over three weeks. But in the end, it was worth it.
Q.

What made you decide to start your site?
A.

Entering high school, our English teachers extolled to us the opportunities our high school newspaper, the Columbian, would give gifted writers. Columbia High School has an award-winning school newspaper, created by excellent journalism and design programs. But after reading the paper, I was underwhelmed by it — not by the quality of writing, but by the subject matter. The Columbian, like all school newspapers, is populated by articles lamenting a change in the cafeteria menu, detailing the daily activities of a new teacher, or discussing the latest school fashions. While these topics may have been of paramount importance to CHS students, there was no audience outside of the school. I, like a group of my peers, wanted to write about topics found in The New York Times, not about the renovation of the old bathroom on the third floor. No school club would give me this opportunity, so I decided to create it myself.
Q.

What are your hopes and goals for the site?
A.

I hope that Academic Perspective becomes a place where interested individuals can come and have intellectual discussions. I don’t believe such a place existed before, so I would love to be able to create it. Another major goal is to expand the readership of the site. In our first week, we had over 750 visits and close to 3,000 page views from 27 countries and 28 U.S. states, and 20 subscribers to our RSS feed. These are really tremendous numbers, but I want to grow even more. We also passed the 50-comment mark in our first week, but again, I want to do better. As much as the articles are important, the most important thing about Academic Perspective is that it become a community, not just a faceless blog.
Q.

What’s been the biggest challenge in starting and running Academic Perspective?
A.

The biggest challenge has definitely been administration. Ensuring that everyone on the staff knows when deadlines are has been difficult. Hopefully with experience, running the site will be easier and we can focus on the most important things: producing great content and building community.