Mixing Alcohol and Energy Drinks Equals Danger!

I likely blogged about this last year, but it is an important reminder for both teenagers and adults. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks (or any caffeine really) can be even more dangerous. For a person drinking drink after drink that contains alcohol, the body is negatively affected as alcohol is basically a poison. At some point, the body will say it has had enough and shut down.....by passing out. However, if that same person is drinking alcohol mixed with energy drinks (Red Bull and vodka for example), the caffeine tricks the body into thinking it is not drunk enough to pass out and not tired enough to pass out. This keeps the person awake and the person likely continues to drink. This gets them even more drunk and could cause them to have complications due to alcohol poisoning, and in some cases cause death. Pretty scary stuff that some of our kids think is just a natural way to drink alcohol. The worst part is that our teens are smaller and more negatively affected by alcohol so mixing of these two types of drinks can have even more damaging or deadly effects. To read more, click on this blog post from DrugFree.org

Two New Sites, Both Great for Local Teens and Their Parents

  A couple of new sites popped up towards the end of 2012 and both are really, really good for our teens in our school district AND their parents. Check them out!

Warren County Standing Together on Prevention (WC STOP): This local group made of educators, law enforcement, leaders, parents, and community members has been working very hard for a couple years now to get drugs and alcohol out of our young peoples hands and bodies so that they can be successful, healthy, and make positive choices as they go through each and every day. They do this and so much more. And the best part is that anyone can be a part of their group, all you need is a passion to educate people in our county and beyond about the dangers affecting our young people. Check out their website and the many resources located across the top of their page. Upcoming meeting date/times are also located near the bottom of their page.

I AM in Control Website for Teens: This website is not just for teens by the way, I think parents and educators can benefit from the information posted as well. Basically a collection of blogs written by teens and adults with advice for teens, this website updates multiple times each week with information and advice for teens. Some of the content is great for teens to read on their own and some would be better for an adult to read and discuss with them. But all of the information is very current and relevant to our teens' lives. As a bonus feature, teens can online chat or call counselors located at Iowa State University and know they are getting professional advice and help on the other side of the line when they connect with them and want to discuss an issue they are struggling with. Great website!

6th, 8th, and 11th Graders to Take Iowa Youth Survey

Students in grades 6, 8, and 11 will be taking the Iowa Youth Survey over the next week or so. This survey is taken by all Iowa 6th, 8th, and 11th graders every two years. It is a comprehensive survey that anonymously gathers data on the current beliefs, values, and attitudes of our students. It will question students on their experiences with alcohol, drugs, aggression, school, etc. as well as their thoughts on these topics. The data takes about 6-9 months to tabulate and send out to the school districts. Sometime during the summer, we get the information back and we can start looking at the data and making decisions about how we can use the data to better our school, community, and county. Everyone from our counselors to our police department to Warren County health services use this data every two years to drive our decisions. Students can opt out of the survey, but the more students that take the survey, the more accurate picture we get. And the more accurate the picture, the better we can serve our students and community. If you have questions or concerns about this survey, please contact a counselor in either our middle school or our high school.

Updates from "Partnership for a Drug Free America" Blog

As I get caught up on my blog reading again, I ran across several good and interesting articles on the Partnership for a Drug Free America blog. I have placed the blog links below. Please click on them and give them a read if the topic interests you. Also, consider following the Partnership for a Drug Free America blog as it routinely has great information and updates nearly daily.

Empowering Youth to Prevent Underage Drinking click here. This article talks about how all of the stats about teens doing drugs or drinking alcohol doesn't always remind you that because the percentages are low, that means the majority of students are doing the right thing and making the right choices. Give this article a quick read to see how students can be the solution to the problem of teens using and abusing drugs and alcohol.

American Smokers Using Less Cigarettes click here. Good news about cigarette smoking in the United States.

Teens Struggle with Quitting Smoking click here. Even though the article above is good news, this article shows you how powerful the addiction to cigarettes can be, especially in teens. Cigarettes simply can't be something you experiment with as you can get hooked and addicted with just one puff.

Carlisle High School Does Amazing "Every 15 Minutes" 2-Day Event!

  I cannot begin to explain how amazing and how affecting Carlisle's recent "Every 15 Minute" 2-day event was. Congrats and thank you to our 2 high school counselors, the STAND (Students Taking Action, Not Drugs) group, local law enforcement, and the community for putting this event on for our students to see. And with Simpson students filming and documenting the whole event and creating the video you see below, even more will see the powerful message: Drinking and driving kills people, kills students, alters lives, and changes the course of a student's life forever. I could go on and on about the many pieces that made these 2 days so realistic and so important, but I think I will just let you watch the video. As you watch the video, please remember that everyone in the video is just acting, but they acted so well, it feels real. Even the parents got into their parts. Many of the participants said they didn't have to act as the emotion of the situation made their emotions really occur. Also, when you see students with painted white faces, those are students the Grim Reeper found during the day every 15 minutes and painted their faces. At that point, they were "dead" and could no longer speak to anyone...not even by text or cell phone! This was to represent the life of a person lost every 15 minutes due to drinking and/or texting while driving. To learn more about this campaign, click on this link: Every 15 minutes

**The video is make-believe, but is graphic at time. I would preview video before deciding to use it with young kids if you are wanting to educate them on the dangers of drinking/texting while driving.**

New Study Shows Middle School Teachers Could be Key in Helping Students Avoid Alcohol

    This information might be just as good for our middle school staff as it is for our parents. I found it pretty interesting and uplifting anyway. A new study just released shows that if students feel emotionally connected or supported with middle school teachers, the length of time until they take their first drink is extended. This means 6th, 7th, and 8th graders start drinking later in life if they feel they have a middle school teacher they can talk to or go to if they need help. There is more information in this article showing that kids who have a higher separation anxiety from their parents also wait longer before trying their first drink. Click and read the article to read about the study and information more.

Partnership for a Drug-Free America article click here

Iowa Youth Survey 2010 Data Powerpoint

Parents, Guardians, Students, Community Members, Educators.....anyone....please view the powerpoint below to see how the latest data from the Iowa Youth Survey, taken in 2010 by all 6th, 8th, and 11th graders across Carlisle and the state, figure into the data we have been receiving since 1999. In many cases, our results are trending up and looking much better. This is a great thing! We have less kids using drugs and alcohol, getting their hands on drugs and alcohol, less kids bullying, and more kids feeling better about themselves. But we still have a ways to go to reach goals that I have set for myself and my school. But, the news is good and I am excited to share this powerpoint to many people this year. Feel free to flip through the powerpoint below and email me questions, leave comments, or give me a call if you have questions, concerns, or comments.

Iowa youth survey

View more presentations from Benjamin Barry

Iowa Youth Survey Results are In!

Over the next few weeks and months, I will be publishing some information that we gained from the latest Iowa Youth Survey that our students took in 2010. Every two years, every 6th, 8th, and 11th grader takes a survey that asks about every question you can imagine. From the very basic like how many fruits and veggies each kid eats a day and how much sleep they get to what their drug usage experience is and what their thoughts on drugs are. This survey is anonymous and studies show our results are extremely accurate both at Carlisle and statewide. So, when we get the results back, we take them seriously. I just finished going through the nearly 200 page report and put about 80 sticky notes on stats that I thought were important. Next, I will be comparing these stats to the last 3 surveys over the last decade and see if I see any trends. All of this data gets put into a presentation that I will share with our staff, our school board, our SIAC team and even post online on this very blog! I would love to get your feedback by having you leave comments whenever you can so we can get a discussion going about the results. For now, about all I can tell you is that Carlisle looked very good compared to the state averages, but we do have some concern areas and areas to improve. So please, follow this blog or click on the links when I send them to you as I think you will realize that there are issues you need to discuss with your child so you are all prepared for what life will be, or already is, throwing at them.

FDA Calls Some Alcoholic Energy Drinks Unsafe!

Great news!! The FDA is putting a stop to the worst of the alcoholic energy drinks and the makers of these drinks are complying with the FDA's request. As I type, the worst of these drinks including Four Loko are no longer being produced or sold in their current potentially-deadly form. Click here to read more about this story on CNN.com.

If you are wondering what these drinks are, please click through other blog entries of mine until you see some pictures of these deadly energy drinks. They look just like your typical energy drinks and many can be bought right locally. In some cases, Warren County store clerks have sold them to minors thinking the request for ID the machine asks for is just because it is an energy drink. They push some buttons to make it go away and sell the drink to minors! So why are these drinks so bad? They combine a large amount of caffeine and a large amount of alcohol into one can. How much into one can? Well, about 3 pops and 4 beers!! So now when a human body wants to save itself terrible damage or death and shut down and pass out to avoid consuming more alcohol, the energy in these drinks keep people awake and drinking more. Way more than their body can handle and this leads to blackouts, comas, lasting bodily injuries, or even death.

Not all drinks are being changed and the drinks aren't really being banned, so education of young people is still needed. Not to mention that a person of age can still legally mix energy drinks with alcohol on their own or even order a mixed drink at a bar, but in these cases, the caffeine and alcohol content is usually far less. But even in these cases, the danger is present. The one good thing to come from these new drinks and the public uproar is the people are talking and many are learning of the true dangers that can occur when stimulants like caffeine are mixed with depressants like alcohol. I for one hope the conversation and education continues....along with the FDA making sure the products marketed to young people are not the same products that are being designed to hurt or kill them.