Just A Parents Thought

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Well, my son made it! He was accepted to attend the University of Central Florida (UCF) and I just returned from the two day long orientation session.
During eight hours each day we were bombarded with a myriad of information, which also included a 10-minute introduction into “Alcohol and other Drug Prevention Programming.”
The program was designed to “ hear about services the counseling center offers to enhance your students success.”
Well, they forgot to mention that the session should have been designed to educate parents how to keep their kids alive once they move onto a college campus.
According to the College Drinking Task Force report to NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2006/September/docs/01features_01.htm , drinking by 18- to 24-year old college students contributes to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries and 97,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape each year!
These numbers are indeed sobering and should raise awareness and concerns among parents.
At the same time we were handed a free college orientation newspaper called “Central Florida Future” containing many ads by different sponsors.
One of the ads caught my eye and probably the eye of many college freshmen: “Every Wednesday Night. The Big Show. SOBER TO WASTED IN 3.9 SECONDS. FREE DRINKS FROM 8 TO 11.”
Guess, freedom of speech is more important than the right to live.
Thousands of college students have indeed blasted of to nowhere.
Are we that callous or stupid?
What do you think?
Yours truly,
Bernd
Proud Father of a UCF Freshmen