Neuroscience that suggests all high schools should be sober high schools!

The Teenage Brain and Alcohol and Other Drugs

Check out this article from the New York Times on alcohol and the developing brain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04teen.html

Here is a quote

The new findings may help explain why people who begin drinking at an early age face enormous risks of becoming alcoholics. According to the results of a national survey of 43,093 adults, published yesterday in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 47 percent of those who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 14 become alcohol dependent at some time in their lives, compared with 9 percent of those who wait at least until age 21. The correlation holds even when genetic risks for alcoholism are taken into account.

What is so upsetting about this finding is that children are starting to drink at earlier and earlier ages

Here are some statistics on teens and drinking

The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls.

By age 14, 41 percent of children have had least one drink.

The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years old.

Teens who begin drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.

An early age of drinking onset is also associated with alcohol-related violence not only among persons under age 21 but among adults as well.

It has been estimated that over three million teenagers are out-and-out alcoholics. Several million more have a serious drinking problem that they cannot manage on their own.

Binge drinking, often beginning around age 13, tends to increase during adolescence, peak in young adulthood (ages 18-22), then gradually decrease. Individuals who increase their binge drinking from age 18 to 24 and those who consistently binge drink at least once a week during this period may have problems attaining the goals typical of the transition from adolescence to young adulthood (e.g., marriage, educational attainment, employment, and financial independence).

These are national statistics. Wisconsin rates number 2 in the nation for underage drinking.

When you read the science one wonders why are we all so complacent?

What is a Recovery School? Why Does Dane County Need One?

What are recovery schools?

Recovery Schools are separate learning communities that provide education, peer support and support services for teens working to recover from alcohol, other drug abuse and emotional problems.

What makes them unique?

• Personal Relationships teens and the staff build strong personal relationships that motivate these teens to be able to use their strengths and succeed.
  


• Peer Pressure for sobriety. Students support each other in living life without alcohol and other drugs, and learn to cope successfully with life
  


• Multi-sensory experiential education. Teaching methods that match their learning styles, leading to academic success. Many who attend say they never would have graduated high school with out this approach.
  


• Life skills and counseling on how to live happily sober
  


• Accountability, students agree to random drug tests to support their sobriety

Why Does Dane County Need One?

• 97% of all teens surveyed are offered alcohol and other drugs on their very first day back at school after alcohol and drug treatment.
  
  


• Ken Winters who researches alcohol and the adolescent brain says,
  
  "Sending a teen back to their school is like sending an adult alcoholic back to their favorite bar for 6 hours a day and expecting he or she to stay sober! "
  


• Dane County has a terrible record for treating teens with substance abuse problems!


• National average 10% of all teens who need treatment receive it.


• Dane County? 1.5% of all teens who need treatment receive it.

Horizon High School is the only aftercare available for teens with substance abuse problems.

Research shows that recovery schools work!

Teens have fewer relapses, more days of attendance and higher graduation rates.

For more information on Horizon go to http://www.horizonhs.org/

For more information on Recovery Schools go to http://www.recoveryschools.org/

Read an article about why New York City chose to form a recovery school

http://facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/resources/inthenews/2009/2009-10-16recoveryschools.php