Recently, I watched one my friends graduate from high school, go to ASU on a scholarship, and begin to travel the road to what seemed like a healthy life. This all changed when he began going to raves. These raves are filled with underage drinking and illegal drug activity. I was worried for my friend and wanted to help him. Luckily, because my mother has been my biggest influence in how to make my life better, by choosing to stay alcohol free until I am of the legal age, I knew that my friend was in need of someone to tell him that what he was doing to himself was only going to result in a downward spiral.
The first opportunity I was given to speak to him alone, I made sure that I told him that I cared about him and only wanted him to be careful and think about what the underage drinking and illegal substance use was doing to him and his dreams he so avidly spoke about during his senior year in high school.
After our talk, I left him alone for a while and went about my business. Later that day, he pulled me aside and told me that what I said to him meant a lot to him. He also told me that no one had ever spoken to him about what harms go along with having too much "fun." He believed that since he was meeting new people and getting attention from girls who would have never taken a second glance at him, drinking large amounts of alcohol at only 18 years old must be okay.
So often I see this trend among my peers. The trend has become the participation in parties where alcohol is served. Many of these teens consume large amounts of alcohol and engage in drunken escapades. On Monday at school, many of these same teenagers brag about who they slept with, if they can even remember, or just how drunk they became.
I believe these teens, who have chosen to walk down the detrimental path of underage drinking, are only desperately seeking attention, no matter what negative impacts may follow their decisions. This attention, to many of them, can only be obtained from the individuals they brag to on Monday. All too many of these teens are lacking a very essential necessity in their lives: parental involvement.
I believe with the help of the Draw the Line campaign, Arizona parents will be able to gain the tips and advice needed to properly engage in conversations with their teens about the dangers of underage drinking. If these conversations are started and actively engaged in equally from both sides, parents talking and teens responding and vice versa, the "bright lime light" on underage alcoholic parties would most definitely dim. This would result in healthier teenagers, without the many hazards associated with underage drinking, the search for attention, and the lack of parental involvement which adds to this cycle.
--Sabra, Phoenix