Prom and graduation season is upon us, and while it is a time of celebration, it can also be a time of worry for parents as they hope their kids do not take the celebration too far.

Cheaha Regional Mental Health Center’s prevention program is working to ease parents’ mind by reminding students to stay safe by making wise decisions in the coming weeks with its Arrive Alive pledge.

Cheaha prevention specialist Richard Bonds said, “Arrive Alive is a promise or contract designed for both students and parents to read and sign. From the students’ perspective, they promise not drive or accept a ride from anyone who has been drinking.

“From the parents’ perspective, they promise to pick up their kids and not ask questions no matter what time they are called.”

Students who sign the pledge receive bracelets reminding them of their promise to make responsible decisions.

Bonds said with this year’s financial limitations, Cheaha was only able to conduct Arrive Alive at six schools, so it chose six schools throughout Cheaha’s four-county coverage area.

Sylacauga High School, B.B. Comer High School, Coosa Central High School, Clay County High School, Lineville High School and Randolph County High School are all participating in Arrive Alive this year.

Comer’s prom is scheduled for Saturday, so students at the school will be receiving their pledges this week.

Bonds gave survey results about alcohol use in several schools in the county but withheld the schools’ name. In a couple of middle schools, alcohol use ranged from 9.5 percent and 15.9 percent in the lower grades to 30.7 percent and 55.4 percent in the higher grades.

In three high schools surveys, the grades that reported the highest amount of alcohol use at each school were 59 percent, 67 percent and 71 percent of that grade’s students.

Statistics from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention from 2005 say Alabama students in grades 9-12 reported:

• 31 percent had their first drink of alcohol, other than a few sips, before age 13.

• 39 percent had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more occasions in the past 30 days.

• 24 percent had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (considered binge drinking) in the past 30 days.

• 5 percent had at least one drink of alcohol on school property on one or more of the past 30 days.

The report also said during 2007 an estimated 66 traffic fatalities and 1,600 nonfatal traffic injuries involved an underage drinking driver.