Mind Over Matter

Each of our 4th graders received a "Mind Over Matter" CD  earlier this week.  A survey came home with the CD. Parents, will you please listen to the CD with your child, fill out the survey and return it to school as soon as possible.  This CD was provided by the  Prevention Dimensions division organized by the Utah State Board of Education.

The latest brain information shows that alcohol impacts the developing brain of a child a whole lot more than it does an adult. It is hoped that through the music and discussion between parents and children important concepts will be reinforced which will have a positive impact on the choices of our young people in regards to underage drinking.

OUR BRAIN AND OUR “SMARTS”
Facts about Alcohol and our Children:
 Almost 42% of ninth grade students reported having consumed alcohol before
they were 13.
Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance-U.S. 1997.
 15.9% of tenth graders in Utah reported having used alcohol in the past 30 days.
Utah SHARP Survey, Prevention Needs Assessment, Bach-Harrison, 2003
 The gap between alcohol use by boys and girls has closed. Girls consume alcohol
and binge during at rates equal to boys.
Alcohol epidemiologic Data System National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997.
 The use of alcohol, by itself or with other drugs, can retard the normal growth and
development of young people.
American Academy of Pediatric, Alcohol: Your Child and Drugs
 “….the brain does not finish developing until a person is around 20 years old.”
Cynthia Kwhn, Ph.D., Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most used and Abused Drugs, Duke
University Medical Center,1998.
 “When there is a disruption of the normal developmental schedule of experience,
neural connections are not made properly…sometimes with devastating results.
Rethinking the Brain, Rima Shore, Families and Work Institute, 1997.
 “Exposure to substances that inhibit cell growth has some impact on an adult
brain, but a devastating impact on the developing brain.”
Kuh, Swartzwelder and Wilkie, Duke University Medical Center, Buzzed, 1998.
 Children shape their attitudes and opinions about underage alcohol use before
they are 12. If we are to prevent underage alcohol use, we must reach our
children while they are in elementary school.