It’s Monday morning, and as the bell rings, you take your seat in class.  You sit next to a kid from a whole different group of friends, and you and you catch bits and pieces of his conversation with his friend. 

   “Yeah, dude, Friday night was bumpin’,” You hear his friend say

    “Yeah, man? What’d you do?”

   And then,

   “I went to this party.  Stuff got crazy and I woke up the next morning on some random person’s front lawn.” 

   You immediately tune out and are shaken by the teacher’s voice telling you to partner up with the person sitting next to you.  As you start working, he starts asking you questions. 

   “You drink, dude?”

    “No,” you reply.

   “What?! That’s crazy.  You definitely should,” he whispers, then smirks to his friends.

   Pressure.  It’s all around us.  Pressure to do well in school, pressure to play sports; you get what I’m saying.  However, in today’s society, the pressure to live under the influence seems to over-ride any other pressures we, as teens, face.  This pressure can come from school, the media, friends, and even family.  With graduation parties and summer vacation upon us, it’s more than likely that teens will be pressured to engage in underage drinking.  Nowadays, it’s hard to find people that don’t live under the influence.  However, Molly Hilsabeck has committed to keeping her life clean.  Hilsabeck has been sober for seventeen years and plans to stay that way.  She doesn’t seem to see what the fuss is all about.  “I don’t see the point of drinking.  You can have a good time without being under the influence,” she said.  Counselor Mrs. Colby also had a few things to add about the pressure to drink.  “I’ve dealt with situations where kids have come to be about being pressured in the past, but not a-lot lately,” she says.  However, sometimes students tend to keep to themselves because they don’t know where to turn.  Maybe they’re afraid to tell an adult what’s going on.  “I’ve dealt with situations in the past where kids and parents use code-words.  The child will text their parent with a certain word or phrase that wouldn’t make sense to other people so that their parent can come pick them up,” Colby said.  “Also, if you really need to, blame it on us parents.  We can take it.”  Colby also brought up the C.A.R.E program that we have in Fraser.  C.A.R.E is an organization that uses their involvement to positively influence our youth, families, and businesses.  “The school pays for the initial visit,” said Colby.  “The student can go anonymously and the C.A.R.E program will send a bill to the school.”

                Though students may be keeping quiet about it, the pressure to drink is all around us, especially with the summer season coming up.  School’s out and it’s time to socialize.  Statistics say that a main reason kids decide to drink is so they don’t feel left out.  Though it may not be the “cool” thing to do, life can be enjoyed without being under the influence.  Wouldn’t you rather remember the great times you had with your friends rather than have a blank memory about them?