Celebrate your Junior Certificate results in style without drink or drugs is the straight talking message to students and parents from a new group working to stop the harm and danger caused by alcohol to young people in Mayo every year.
The new Mayo Junior Cert Results Night Group (MJCRNG ) believes that parents are the most important influence on their children’s activities and safety. They are encouraging parents to have an honest and open conversation with their teenagers about how they are going to celebrate their results and to take an active interest in those plans.
“The MJCRNG would like to congratulate all students receiving their results. The Junior Certificate is a milestone event and it’s very often the first big night out for many students,” said Pat Conway, community liaison officer for Mayo and member of the Junior Certificate Results group. “But teenagers don’t have to drink to have a good time. It is important that they can mark this big event in their lives in a fun and safe environment. We are asking parents to play their part in ensuring this.”
The group is also concerned about the long term health risks associated with underage drinking. National statistics shows that young people who start drinking before or around Junior Certificate age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependency than those who wait until they are 21, seven times more likely to be in a road traffic accident, and 11 times more likely to suffer unintentional injuries. In addition, heavy use of alcohol during critical teenage years can impair brain development and cause memory loss and developmental concerns.
MJCRNG has already distributed a letter to all parents and guardians of Junior Certificate students with an information pack called Teenage Years: A parent’s guide to protecting your teenager on a night out. In addition, the group has designed an alcohol awareness module which can be rolled out to Junior Cert results students. It is already planning an alternative Junior Certificate Night Out for the class of 2013.
The MJCRNG is made up of An Garda Síochana, Western Region Drugs Task Force, South West Mayo Development Company, Castlebar Neighbourhood Youth Project, Castlebar Join Policing Committee, Castlebar Youth Action Project, Castlebar Town Council, No Name Club, and St Joseph’s Secondary School, Castlebar.
