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High School ProgramsI never realized there was so much to think about when it came to drinking. Now I understand why my parents are so concerned.
Stephanie A., O.R. High School, Senior 
5 Reasons why high school students NEED an effective alcohol education program:
- “Just say no” may work for junior high school students but “Just say know” is more appropriate for high school students.
- Many high school students are already drinking.
- High risk drinking can be damaging to the developing teen brain.
- New college students that are unaware of the dangers of high risk drinking are more likely to experience serious drinking problems.
- Many current alcohol education programs fail to provide low risk drinking information for students who choose to drink.
Beer, Booze and Books
This dynamic non-judgmental approach to confronting high risk college drinkingn encourages students to critically examine the role alcohol is currently playing or could play in their lives once they graduate. Beer, Booze and Books provides clear, accurate and applicable information and is effectively enhanced by computer generated, multi-media graphics and video. While presenting critical “drinking” information this program supports abstinence and stresses the reality that most high school and college students either don’t drink or if they do, they do so at a low risk level. This is student favorite!!! Jim has presented this program to more than 350,000 students at more than 350 colleges and high schools around the country.
Format
Lecture combined with computer generated, multi-media graphics and video with audience participation encouraged.
Duration
60 – 70 Minutes
Audience
Orientation, Awareness Weeks, Greek Life, Residence Life, Athletes, High School Prom Prep
Topics
Childhood introduction to alcohol, amount of alcohol in drinks, metabolism of alcohol, misperception of student drinking patterns, driving under the influence, addiction, blackouts, hangovers, violence, party strategies, state dependent learning, sexually transmitted diseases, acquaintance rape, tolerance, advertising, academics, alternative activities, women’s issues, blood alcohol level, genetic influence on addiction, clarifying misperceptions, alcohol poisoning, sexual dysfunction, walk of shame. (This may seem like a lot of information. It is! Each topic is presented in an easily understood manner to help students apply this information to their lives)
Audience Reactions
“Great”
“I wish my friends could have heard you.”
“Finally someone willing to talk to us like adults.”
“Even though I don’t drink it was still cool. Now I know what to tell my friends.”
“I am so glad he didn’t preach. He simply gave us the facts and left the decision up to us. But now I know a hell of a lot more about that decision.”
“The multi-media stuff was fantastic.”
“I learned more about alcohol in this hour than I did in all my health classes.”
“The best alcohol program I’ve ever been to.”
“Thank you!’
The Truth about College Drinking
Campus tours for prospective new students and parents often simply scratch the surface of the campus culture. This program assists parents and students in understanding what they should look for, what questions to ask, who to ask and who to believe when they are evaluating the drinking situation of a college and considering their potential $100,000 + investment.
Format
Lecture combined with computer generated, multi-media graphics and video with audience participation encouraged.
Duration
60 – 70 Minutes
Audience
PTO/PTA sponsored programs, High school transition programs, Community groups
Topics
Researching alcohol education and abuse prevention personnel, Substance free housing, Alcohol policies, Athletics, and much more. Participants will be provided with a list of questions to ask and who the best people to talk with are.
Audience Reactions
“I wish I would have heard this before I sent my first son off to college. Maybe he wouldn’t be having the problems at school that he is now facing”
“Wow! What an eye-opener.”
“I feel a lot more confident now about talking to the college people.”
Drinking and Driving … an interesting look at a serious problemHere’s a helpful follow-up to Beer, Booze and Books. Integrating the use of the popular Fatal Vision Goggles and remote control cars, students receive a brief individualized lesson about DUI, BAL, Impairment and low risk drin
king.
Format
Interactive workshop utilizing Fatal Vision Gogles, BAC Zone Cards and remote control cars.
Duration 1-2 hours
Audience
Awareness Weeks, DUI Projects, Residence Life, Orientation, Peer Outreach program
Topics
Blood Alcohol Levels, Low Risk Drinking, Impairment, Driving under the Influence, Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Vertical Gaze Nystagmus
Audience Reactions
“Those goggles really make you stop and think!”
“I am glad Jim took the time to explain all of this to me.”
The Holderness School is a private secondary school in New Hampshire. The school newspaper featured the following article after Jim’s appearance. Talking to “Adults”: Discussing Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse with Students
by: Stephen Solberg
How do you devise a message about alcohol – and more specifically alcohol abuse – that is effective in helping to curb teen drinking? Well, if you listen to students like Woo Sung Lee ’06, the best and effective messages are those that “treat us like adults." And last night’s Health Night speaker, Mr. Jim Matthews, Coordinator of Health Education at Merrimack College and author of “Beers, Booze, and Books”, did exactly that. With a message that focused on education rather than “Just Say No," Mr. Matthews discussed the facts about alcohol and alcohol abuse, talked about problems related to abuse, and gave us something to think about with respect to the media and its relationship to our “societal norms.”
Last night’s talk which was split up by grades (11th and 12th and then 9th and 10th) to allow for a more focused message and a smaller audience, featured many of the same themes covered in previous Health Days. Our speaker Mr. Matthews, by using a series of images and movie clips, demonstrated how the media has influenced our understanding of alcohol from a young age, pointing to Disney’s “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast’ as examples. Animations are common beer ads, as are beautiful men and women, somehow able to keep the pounds off and keep in shape, despite the fattening effects of beer and many alcoholic beverages. Alcohol, Mr. Matthews continued, affects the body directly, impairing the brain’s ability to function, causing slower hand-eye coordination, loss of balance, and delayed reasoning skills.
The talk was well received, both from students and the faculty who attended. “Mr. Mathews combined humor with tremendous fact-giving,” said Mr. Ford, Director of Residential Life. Ms. Summers, our school counselor and a co-organizer of the event with Mrs. Weymouth, Dean of Students, commented, “He did a good job of depicting the risks, and also tuning our students into some important realities. I think many of our kids were shocked to hear that the majority of college
students do not engage in binge drinking. While drinking to excess tends to be a loud attention-getting behavior, it is not necessarily typical.”
Bruce Hamlin ’06 appreciated the tone Mr. Matthews set. “He came at this material from the perspective of ‘Hey, I’m probably not going to be able to change your mind about drinking in a just a few minutes, but I can give you some important information.’" It’s the right way to get through to kids.”
Overall, the evening was successful in its goals and thought-provoking in its content. Our goal was to get real information into the hands of our students, so they, like the adults they will become, can make responsible and informed decisions about alcohol.
