OP-ED: This Holiday Season Help Keep Alcohol Out Of Teens’ Hands

Watertown officials urge parents to keep an eye on their teens over the holidays to make sure they do not drink alcohol.

With the holiday season upon us once again, as we prepare for joyful celebrations with family and friends, the Watertown Youth Coalition (WYC), Wayside Multi-Center, and the Watertown Police and Public Schools, would like to remind all adults in the community to help prevent teens from drinking alcohol. Teen alcohol use can lead to unsafe behaviors that put their health and safety at-risk. Underage drinking affects everyone in the community and if we work together we can continue to ensure the healthy and safe development of our youth. After all, every year a teen does not use alcohol, the odds of lifelong dependence decreases by 15 percent. In April 2012, the Watertown Youth Coalition administered the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to …

• Photos (1)

The Mommy Express

In The Holiday Moment

Rushing around to get things done for the holidays, I almost missed the most important time of all.

Anyone who has tried to run errands around the holidays while toting a toddler knows they may be in for a big challenge. I faced an interesting challenge of my own as my daughter and I headed to the post office to get stamps for a large shopping bag of holiday cards I was rushing to send out. I kept my fingers crossed that there would not be a long line and we could be there and back in a jiffy since I had a to-do list waiting for me at home. I opted to let her walk with me, rather than push her in the stroller, since it was a short distance and I knew she would enjoy it more on foot, especially given the covering of snow we had had overnight. Getting her to leave the yard full of new snow was a bit tricky, but with the promise that we …