Conard High School	West Hartford Public Schools	Hall High School
What is Community of Concern? Studies indicate that the likelihood of a young person using alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs decreases the more that child believes usage would upset his or her parents. The mission of the Community of Concern is to educate parents and build partnerships to keep youth alcohol, tobacco and other drug free. Parents in partnership with each other, their children and their schools form a strong alliance enabling all of us to coordinate our efforts to protect our children. Parents, schools and other organizations are then able to play a critical and essential role in a comprehensive, community-based prevention effort whose goal is to keep children healthy and safe. - (from Community of Concern Website) CoC Booklet Information
Materials Available from Conard	Are your kids looking for more information on substance abuse? They need look no further than their school library! Find a selection of fiction and non-fiction books located in Hall and Conard libraries.	Materials Available from Hall
	Specific Information on Various Drugs Marijuana Alcohol Cocaine  Heroin  Methamphetamine Date Rape Drugs   Ecstasy LSD - PCP Inhalants Oxycontin
	West Hartford Students - want a place to chill - visit The Grounds
Prom Season Guidelines	CoC Kick-off Letter-"Food for Thought" Sharing a commitment to keep our youth drug and alcohol free CoC E-learning	Being there for your Teenager - The ABC's

GREETINGS FROM YOUR COMMUNITY OF CONCERN!

Why are we concerned about drug and alcohol use?
Here's the reason:

170 or 13% of our students report that they drank alcohol for the first time at age 11 or younger. Another 259 or 19% report that they drank alcohol for the first time between the ages of 11 and 13. 325 students or 24% waited until they were between the ages of 14 and 16. Studies tell us that 40% of kids who begin to drink alcohol at 15 years of age will develop alcoholism at some point in their lives. (Hall High Drug and Alcohol Survey, 1344 of our 1579 students took the survey on September 5, 2007.)
To see a summary of the survey please click here

Our concerns should not end with high school graduation…… the consequences of alcohol use on college campuses can be enormous.

Stephen Guest, West Hartford parent, is dedicated to enhancing college campus safety and preventing further tragedies associated with alcohol use on or near college campuses, such as the one in which his daughter, Kristine, lost her life in February, 2005.

Visit his website, Compelled To Act at http://www.compelledtoact.com for information on

Tragic Results of the Campus Drinking Culture

Why we are compelled to act and why others need to act

How to become involved

How an ignored federal law has failed to require colleges to seriously address campus drinking

How civil law involving negligence litigation against colleges has been unfavorable to injured students and may have well caused many institutions to less than adequately address student safety issues, especially involving alcohol

Information and links aimed at informing parents and students about the prevailing alcohol culture on too many campuses and its harmful consequences.

Call Doreen Oshinskie, 233-7085 with questions or comments
email doreen_oshinskie@sbcglobal.net.

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