Safety 101: Teens and Twenty Somethings Drinking to Excess

The typical activity among teens and twenty somethings on days like Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day is DRINKING.  I place drinking in all caps because on these days it seems as if many of our childrens common sense goes out the door and they party to excess to celebrate.  Many children have fallen victim to a death directly related to drinking.  It doesn't really matter whether the death is due to drunk driving or alcohol poisoning.  Dead is dead.  Make sure that your children know your feelings about drinking, and the dangers associated with drinking.  In addition, signing a contract with them where you agree to no consequence if they call you to pick them up when they or the person they are riding with have had too much to drink.  Not all parents are comfortable with letting their children off the hook for drinking, but consider this contract may just save their life.

Children Distilling Hand Sanitizer, What's Next?

The latest craze for children getting high: distilling hand sanitizer and drinking the liquid.  The problem with this is that the liquid is a highly concentrated alcohol that is sending many children to the emergency with alcohol poisoning or worse causing their death.  Being aware of this craze is not enough because every news program  is providing our children with a road map of how to distill this easily available product using salt. 

What should do to prevent your child from falling victim to this latest fad?  First, talk to your children about the dangers of this phenomenon.  In addition, consider replacing your home sanitizers with foam sanitizer, alcohol wipes or alcohol free sanitizers.  Contact your schools to make sure that they are aware of this trend and encourage the school to change over to these other forms of sanitizers.