Graduation/Prom Season: Keep Youth Sober And Safe

There are good traditions and bad traditions.

One of the worst is the use of alcohol by teenagers.

Each year, while young people enjoy the prom and graduation season, there is the pressure to consume alcoholic beverages. Worse yet, there are adults who provide the alcohol.

Teen drinking is bad for many reasons, but one looms large: drunk driving.

And it happens right here. Statistics from the Fulton County Health Department say 7.7% of Fulton County teens admit they have driven a vehicle after drinking. County statistics reveal 23.8% of teens have ridden in a vehicle with someone who had been drinking.

Too many young lives have been lost to drunk driving. Too many promising futures have been cut short. Too many mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, have cried.

Archbold, Pettisville, and Ridgeville Corners parents have done great things to provide youngsters with safe alternatives to alcohol abuse over the prom and graduation season.

Let's encourage boys and girls to heed the warnings and participate in safe options.