news-record.com

The following is a Counterpoint:
By Amanda Story
As graduation approaches, Guilford County students are raising awareness about the risks and negative consequences associated with alcohol and other drug use.
North Carolina students' reported drinking behaviors are healthier than may be perceived. The 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of high school students indicates that roughly 79 percent of students surveyed did not meet criteria for "binge drinking" (having consumed five or more alcoholic drinks in a row) within the past 30 days and 62 percent reported not having consumed alcohol at all within the past 30 days.
Still, Guilford County students are raising awareness about the negative and sometimes fatal consequences of underage drinking, binge drinking, and other drug use to make for a safe and sober graduation season.
Recently, Alcohol and Drug Services, the Guilford Center and the Family Life Council sponsored a Billboard Art Contest with participating Guilford County students to display larger-than-life billboard messages about the risks associated with alcohol and other drug use. The three student winners now have their artwork displayed on 15 billboards across Guilford County, and, courtesy of Kelly F. Sham of Thousands O' Prints, located in downtown Greensboro, their messages will be framed and displayed at Alcohol and Drug Services Downtown Greensboro location on East Washington Street.
Other exciting prevention initiatives across Guilford County have been the result of Guilford County's SMART (Student Mentoring Awareness and Resource Team) teams. Students choose to model healthy behavior and encourage peers to remain safe and sober through a variety of monthly, peer-led activities. Monthly activities are designed to promote drug awareness and prevent the onset of tobacco, alcohol and other drug use among their peers and support national prevention efforts like Red Ribbon Week, The Great American Smoke-out and Kick Butts Day, to name a few.
SMART teams, provided by Safe & Drug Free Schools and Alcohol & Drug Services, also receive a variety of specific substance abuse training, allowing them to provide valuable drug education and information to other students, staff members and parents throughout the school year.
On behalf of Alcohol and Drug Services, the Guilford Center, the Family Life Council, Thousands O' Prints, and especially Guilford County's SMART teams and student leaders, thank you for supporting a healthy Guilford County and have a safe and sober graduation season.

The writer is prevention service consultant, Alcohol & Drug Services in Greensboro.