FEATURED JOBS
I don’t know which gives me more goose bumps—the day you went off to pre-school the first time, when I felt such a strong combination of love and worry, or now that you are headed off to college. I am so proud of how you have grown during these past years.
I am writing this letter because I care about you and what happens to you. College will open up new horizons, and I am so excited for you. Along with much more freedom and independence, you will also face some challenges and pressures. Please ask yourself if what you are about to do is really worth the risk, whether in the short term or for the long run; and are you making a healthy choice? Your intent may be to have fun, but what will the impact be if things go wrong? So please take the following words of advice to heart:
• Don’t get into a car alone with someone you don’t really know or you just met.
• Don’t get into a car with someone who has been drinking or who is high.
• Underage drinking is illegal. It is also unhealthy for your still developing brain cells.
• Using drugs is illegal. It is also risky because you never fully know what is in that substance or how it will affect you that time.
• Using other people’s medicine is a gamble. No two people are alike; someone else’s medicines are meant for that person’s body, not yours.
• Medicines are for illnesses, not for playing around; they can turn on you and make you sick. If you are not ill, don’t take medicines.
• Though the desire to have sexual relations with someone may be very, very strong, consider the risks involved and the whole range of possible complications.
• You can get HIV from just one sexual encounter, but HIV will cause a lifetime of heartache and suffering.
• You can contract HIV, herpes and other STDs from having oral sex.
• When you engage in sexual relations with someone, you are engaging in sexual relations with all of that person’s previous or current sexual partners.
• Freshman year is a whole new world, and things can feel stressful and overwhelming. If you start feeling like it’s all too much, you can talk to a counselor at
the Health Center, the R.A. in your dorm, or someone else you trust, and you can always call me.
So there, I have said what’s on my mind.
As you become a young adult, you will have many day-to-day choices that can affect you for years to come. And remember, I am still here to help you figure things out along the way. Call me. After all, that’s why I got you the cell phone!
Your Ever Loving Parent
By Howard Reznick, LCSW-C, Senior Manager, Prevention Education, Jewish Community Services, Baltimore, MD.
For more information about how to help your child avoid risky behaviors, visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org/prevention, or call JCS, 410-466-9200.
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