By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

The tanning packages have been paid for. The limousines have been rented and no doubt the gowns have been purchased, fitted and match the accompanying ties.

It’s prom time again and Niles High School students are likely counting down to the main event this Friday.

For students it’s one of the most anticipated events of the year; for seniors, one of the most sentimental.

But it can also be one of the most dangerous.

School officials and members of the school’s Drug Free Players are focusing on reminding students to be safe when it comes to prom night and stay away from drinking and driving or other harmful activities.

Coordinator Karissa Young said the group began their week-long push to encourage students to celebrate prom safely Friday with Mike Cooper, a motivational speaker.

“His message was ‘Be Good to Yourself,'” she said. “He encouraged students to do just that. Through goal-setting, decision-making and accountability we have to do what is right and what is best for us.”

Senior Nate Clingenpeel said Cooper “talked about his life experiences and it touched upon prom, be good to yourself and not second guessing your decision.

“He told you how to be motivated in your decisions and to do the right thing,” Clingenpeel said. “You don’t think it going to happen to you, but it will catch up with you. And don’t drink and drive.”

Throughout the week, Young said announcements would be made giving encouragement, poems and a few statistics about drinking and driving.

“Our message is you do not have to be the one drinking, it can be someone else,” she said. “Encourage your friends to stay safe, stay sober. As a reminder, a wrecked car is parked out front for students to be reminded when they drive in and out of the parking lot.”

Also, for the first time, Hope Community Church on Lake Street in Niles will host an “Elegant Prom Night” dinner at the church for Niles High School Students Friday night before the prom dance.

There will be valet parking, cloth napkins, crystal dinnerware and a chef-prepared dinner of prime rib, baked chicken, talapia, side dishes and desserts. A photographer will be taking prom pictures.

It’s the first time the church is putting on the dinner with a hope that the event will become as annual as prom itself.

Young said parents can play a vital role in encouraging a safe and drug-free prom.

“We would like to encourage parents to call or text and check on their student,” she said. “Make sure everything is going good. Students will be more likely to tell their parent if they would like to leave a party if they are in contact with them.

“Plan an after-prom party at your house,” she added. “Have parents bring over snacks, rent movies, have a campfire, pull out the games and have a fun, safe night. Talk to your kids about the risks of drinking and driving again. They have heard it, but it’s worth the reminders.”

Reminders that could only help in keeping prom from becoming a tragedy rather than a night no one will want to forget.

• In 2007, the average age at first alcohol use among recent initiates ages 12 to 49 was 16.8 years, similar to the corresponding 2006 estimate (16.6 years).

• Young adults ages 18 to 22 enrolled full-time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full-time to use alcohol in the past month, binge drink and drink heavily. Past month alcohol use was reported by 66.4 percent of full-time college students compared with 54.1 percent of persons ages 18 to 22 who were not enrolled full-time. Binge and heavy use rates for college students were 45.5 and 19.0 percent, respectively, compared with 38.4 and 13.3 percent, respectively, for 18 to 22-year-olds not enrolled full time in college.

• Students who attended schools with high rates of heavy drinking experienced a greater number of secondhand effects, including disruption of sleep or studies, property damage and verbal, physical or sexual violence.

• Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined.

• High school students who use alcohol or other substances are five times more likely than other students to drop out of school or to believe that earning good grades is not important.

• Of those 1,670 traffic fatalities of children age 14 and younger, 245 (15 percent) occurred in drunken driving crashes. Out of those 245 deaths, more than half (130) were occupants of a vehicle with a driver who had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08 or higher.

• Underage drinkers are susceptible to immediate consequences of alcohol use, including blackouts, hangovers and alcohol poisoning and are at elevated risk of neurodegeneration (particularly in regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory), impairments in functional brain activity and the appearance of neurocognitive defects. Heavy episodic or binge drinking impairs study hairs and erodes the development of transitional skills to adulthood.

Source: MADD.org