Welcome to August 2009 'News of Hope' SUMMER has flown by, once again! LEGACY OF HOPE® begins its 19th year on tour across the US! Guiding youth to make healthy choices about alcohol, drugs, violence, sexuality, emotional coping, relationships, diversity, character and stress continues, as always, to be one of the significant challenges for parents, schools and communities. We look forward to sharing the journey with you this year, providing Emotional Wisdom and Healthy Life Choice messages to young and old. It's never too late and never too early to commit to programs that stimulate critical thinking and cortical growth around healthy emotional coping skills for our kids and families. Research confirms what youth have shared with us: many young people, from middle school through college, drink, do drugs, and raid the medicine cabinet in epidemic proportions in order to cope with the STRESS in their lives. As reported by Join Together on August 5, 2008, "The Partnership for a Drug-Free America reveals a troubling new insight into the reasons why teens use drugs. . . the number one reason teens see for using drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. . . 73 percent of teens reported that school stress is the primary reason for drug use." Let this be the year we address alcohol and drug use and the influencing factor of STRESS. Wishing everyone a stress-less start to the 2009-2010 School Year! Pictured above: Pic 1: The new De-Stress for Success® System is released with Workbook, DVD and 2 CD's! Pic 2: Susie and Dr. Ken presented their first De-Stress for Success® Workshop based on the new System at Camp Turbo for 350 exuberant Turbo Kick participants and instructors from across the United States! Check out Chalene Johnson's Turbo Kick creations - from high-energy routines to instructor training and a hot clothing line! Pic 3 & 4: LEGACY kicked off the new school year on August 4th in Humboldt, Tennessee at the Professional Development Day for K-12 teachers of Humboldt City Schools. Pic 3 - 150 Humboldt teachers ready to be motivated for the 2009-2010 school year! Pic 4 - Susie with Ms. Anne, Assistant Superintendent (on left) and Steve Bayko, new Superintendent (on rt). August 2009 NEWS OF HOPE CONTENTS . Drinking Scenes Pervasive in New Harry Potter Movie . New Resource Shows Parents Where To Look For Drugs In Their Homes . De-Stress for Success® System is HERE! . Alcoholism Among Pre-Teens Often Unnoticed, Untreated . JOIN Susie on FACEBOOK! To view past newsletters... JOIN Susie on FACEBOOK! JOIN Susie on FACEBOOK! Connecting on Facebook is more cool than I expected! It's fun to hear bits and pieces of your life's "stuff" when I have a moment on the road! Fun to know you're doing well, had a special experience, even need a little support from your friends. And it's great having you on the road with me as I wind my way across the country - able to send you links to pics that meant something to me and the wonderful teens and adults I'm meeting along the way. I invite you to become a FRIEND! If you're on Facebook, find me at Susie Vanderlip. If Facebook is something new that you're unsure of, I'm happy to say it doesn't take much of my time at all - but does connect me to faces and people I'd otherwise lose touch with. Teens - just make sure your parents approve! And it comes AFTER your homework, right?! It's all about being safe, polite and no bad press/pics about you or your friends! Facebook - for fun and for free!   _________________________________________________________
Drinking Scenes Pervasive in New Harry Potter Movie News Summary from Join Together - July 30, 2009 Alcohol use is highly prevalent in the latest Harry Potter movie, with characters frequently quaffing mead and other forms of alcoholic beverages in key scenes, the New York Times reported July 28. Key figures in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are shown drinking, including a scene where Harry himself engages in celebratory imbibing with his professors. Hermoine, Neville, and Ron are also shown drinking at various points in the film. Hagrid, their mentor, gets drunk and passes out. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and films follow these characters from a young age, but the latest installment depicts them as 16-year-olds coming of age and enjoying some new freedoms -- including an unchaperoned trip to a pub near their school. After drinking at the bar, Hermoine is shown to be tipsy, putting her arms around her male companions. Some criticized the film for portraying alcohol use as a way to deal with stress and sorrow. "Hermoine is such a tightly wound young lady, but she's liberated by some butterbeer," said Liz Pearl, editor of Common Sense Media, which provides reviews of children's' movies, books, and online content. "The message is that it gives you liquid courage to put your arms around the guy you really like but are afraid to." But Daniel Issacs, a New York parent of a nine-year-old Potter fan, said, "The Harry Potter universe is not our own. Trying to put 2009 American norms into play seems kind of silly. Plus, in a world where dark wizards are kidnapping or killing people on a regular basis, a little underage drinking is the least of their problems." In the U.K., where the film is set, 16-year-olds can order alcoholic drinks if they are eating a meal, but the Potter characters were not shown eating at the pub. Warner Brothers studio said their intent was to remain faithful to the Rowling books and said the scenes shown in the film "should not be held to the same standards as the real world." SUSIE'S COMMENTS: This article stirred up a significant amount of controversy and numerous comments that can be read online. The key response we agree with is that regardless of how we police the media, prevention and values is a parenting issue. Youth ARE using alcohol and drugs to manage the stress in their lives. Youth also learn emotional coping by watching parents. Do we adults manage our lives with a glass of wine every night or a six pack? Do we take our fears and frustrations out in angry outbursts or emotionally unavailable withdrawal? Help by giving youth an awareness of the choices and teach them healthy emotional coping/stress management skills in school and, especially, by example at home. Exercise, yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, journaling, talking things out for problem resolution are all accessible and positive methods for emotional coping and stress management. Get ahead of the problem! Let LEGACY educate your teens in healthy ways to cope with stress and emotions - without pot, alcohol or other drugs. New Resource Shows Parents Where To Look For Drugs In Their Homes When parents think about keeping their teens safe from drugs, they don't usually think of drugs that could be found in their homes. But today's teens are abusing prescription drugs more than any illicit drug except marijuana. The ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is highlighting the danger zones in each room of the home with a new Rx Drug House Tour Handout. Quantity copies are available, FREE of charge, by visiting www.TheAntiDrug.com/Resources/teen-rx.aspx or by calling 1-800-788-2800 and requesting House Tour Print Insert: Where Are Drugs in Your House? [ONDCP09-FCINSERT]. Plenty of free pamphlet resources available on LEGACY Website - Order NCADI Tips for Teens De-Stress for Success® System is HERE! Check out the Workbook Table of Contents - a complete set of tools to relax your body, ease your mind and uplift your spirit! We will be planning Public Seminars in the coming months. If you'd be interested in attending, email us at info@de-stressforsuccess.com and let us know where you live and details of your interest. Every life has stress. Learn to identify your personal signals of EXCESS stress before it creates chronic 'dis-ease.' Experience and choose tools that appeal and work for YOU. Be a positive attraction to others as you expand your capacity for compassion, patience, peace and serenity! Contact us for more info, to book a Workshop or purchase the De-Stress for Success® System Alcoholism Among Pre-Teens Often Unnoticed, Untreated News Summary from Join Together, July 26, 2009 Most alcoholics start drinking during their teen years, but the disease can also strike those who begin using alcohol at a younger age -- and the problem often goes unrecognized, experts say. The San Francisco Chronicle reported July 16 that Mary Brennan of suburban Chicago began drinking at age 10 with friends of her older brother; by 15, she was bringing vodka to school in Gatorade bottles and getting drunk every day. Her father, a single parent, didn't recognize the problem, even after she overdosed and nearly died. The underage-drinking rate in the U.S. has remained steady in recent years, but some research indicates that youths are starting to drink at a younger age. One study, from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, concluded that about 10 percent of nine-year-olds had consumed more than a sip of alcohol. And research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicates that children who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to have drinking problems than those who start drinking at age 21 or later. "A third of kids ages 12 to 17 had their first drink before 13," said Susan Foster, director of policy research for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. "That's about 6.4 million kids, many more than there have been historically. Very young drinkers are a huge concern." "We've received calls from parents of kids as young as 8," said Cole Rucker, CEO and cofounder of the Echo Malibu treatment center. "Every year, alcohol use shows up in younger and younger kids." Young drinkers often get started with alcohol use by getting drinks from friends or family liquor cabinets. Polls have shown that youths ages 13 and up say it is easy to get alcohol from adults -- and sometimes their own parents, who may themselves have drinking problems. "The traditional thinking is that risk factors for alcohol abuse show up in adolescence," said Robert A. Zucker, Ph.D., director of the Addiction Research Center at the University of Michigan. "But, actually, they can show up earlier -- in children 9 or younger, even in preschoolers." Few treatment programs exist for very young alcoholics, who rarely get adequate services, such as intensive inpatient care. COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: Posted by Janet Lerner on 27 Jul 09 10:31 AM EDT I have become increasingly aware of this problem. Many of our clients started drinking at two or three years old -- Saturday and Sunday mornings after their parent(s) had a party the night before and 'crashed' without cleaning up. The next morning the kids go out and find the 'mess' and clean it up themselves. Article available at: http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/alcoholism-among-pre-teens.html?log-event=sp2f-view-item&nid=54089907 Make educating youth and parents about alcoholism a priority. LEGACY can help.