Trashy, dirty, aggressive and different: all of these descriptions are stereotypes of underage drinkers at school.

“Culturally, drinkers are [thought of as] kind of the trailer people of America…the low-ends…and that’s not the case,” said Jim Carlson, Substance Abuse Specialist for Springfield Public Schools.

Students who do not drink are usually thought of as good students, responsible and good leaders. These are all descriptions of a student who does not partake in underage drinking.

However, that is not the case. “It’s not just the low-ends. It’s the athletes, students in the A+ program. It’s lawyers, doctors, all leading our community, dealing with the problem [of alcohol].”

Carlson said. “Alcohol has no respect for age, money, smarts or morality.”

In a random survey of 93 students at Central, only 31 admitted to drinking alcohol.

“You do not hear anyone talking about drinking. I know people do it, but I don’t hear people talking about it,” said junior Florina Antal.

“I hear it all the time. It’s from the unexpected people. It’s from the IB kids or the smart kids,” said junior Breanna Holloway.

This proves Carlson’s point. That it could be any student at Central. Not a “bad” kid, not an IB student, but anyone.

“All in all, I think Central kids conduct themselves very well in regards to not using chemicals [alcohol]. “They are really good at not getting caught or [are] real resistant [when caught],” Carlson said.

In searching for statistics, it is easy to find numbers. Those numbers aren’t always current and can be deceiving. A study from 2006 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 631,000 teens drank alcohol on any one day and 8,000 teens tried alcohol for the first time.

If a friend or you show signs of alcohol abuse, you should talk with your counselor, teacher, a school based clinician or trusted adult.

Carlson meets regularly with Central students. He can be reached at (417)-268-7884.

You can also call the Alcoholics Anonymous for help at (417)-823-7125 or go to their web site at: www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.