Free bowling party emphasizes substance-free fun

[March 06, 2018] 

LINCOLN

On Sunday, Logan Lanes saw a record number of families there to participate in this year's Substance-free Bowling Party. The event began at 11 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m. A steady stream of families came in to play a couple of free games of bowling and enjoy free food courtesy of the ALMH Community Health Collaborative and Lincoln/Logan County Crimestoppers.

Volunteers on hand from the two sponsoring agencies had displays that spoke to the need for greater awareness of the harms of alcohol abuse as well as statistics about local alcohol use among children and teens.

Youngsters were also invited to participate in a survey about their alcohol knowledge and/or use. The information from the survey is used by the CHC to put together statistical information about youth behaviors and alcohol use in Logan County.

Statistics that are already known from past surveys indicate that just slightly more than half of all high school seniors have had conversations with their parents about alcohol.

Seniors indicated that at the time they took the survey, 39 percent had consumed alcohol within the previous 30 days.

The current Logan County stats show that 26 percent of the seniors surveyed have participated in binge drinking during the past two weeks.

Binge drinking is defined as drinking multiple drinks in a short period. For girls a binge drinking event is four drinks, and for boys it is five drinks.

And finally, research done indicates that children who begin drinking before age 15 are seven times more likely to develop an alcohol abuse problem in adulthood.

These statistics emphasize the importance of encouraging parents to discuss the pitfalls of alcohol use with their children and to establish rules that will curb the opportunities for kids to consume alcohol.

While the day was intended to be a fun family event, it also brought to light a serious and growing problem across the country, and urged local families to break the cycle of alcohol abuse by being responsible parents who set ground rules and enforce them and talk with their kids about living substance-free.

[Nila Smith]