Franklin Lakes Municipal Alliance

BE A SAFE HOME

The Goal of SAFE HOMES is to provide resources and encourage communication that will help empower parents in the crucial work of parenting teens. This will be accomplished by working in conjunction with all groups within the FLOW area involved in encouraging healthy, responsible teen behavior.

The FLOW Municipal Alliance hosts a varitety of programs in October, January and March to further this goal. Please join us to increasey our awareness of what is going on in the district and to take advantage of available community resources. Dates, times and locations are provided on the District Calendar.

Parents who host lose the most

It is a criminal offense in New Jersey to serve alcohol toanyone who is under the legal age of 21. Anyone whoserves alcohol in his or her home or permits underagedrinking can be liable for damages if the person served be-comes intoxicated and causes injury.

There is no such thing as "responsible teenage drinking." Teens drink to get drunk!

Do your part to stop illegal drinking and drug use in the FLOW area. Join SAFE HOMES today!

The need for providing SAFE HOMES has never been more evident.

In 2005 the Ramapo-Indian Hills District Board of Education administered the American Drug and Alcohol Survey to provide information about substance abuse by district high school students. The results of this survey show that the problem of alcohol and marijuana use by students in the FLOW Area requires a response that encompasses all members of the FLOW community: parents, schools, students and community members in developing prevention measures.

Be in the Know BEFORE they Go!

Take the initiative and contact the adults in the home where your child is socializing before they go to confirm that an adult will be present.

Here are some negatives that need eliminating, as described by informed teens, parents, school authorities and police:

  • Teens near death from alcohol poisoning and drug overdoses
  • Private parties, where teen bonding takes place around illegal drinking and drug use, sometimes with parents present
  • House trashing and vandalism
  • Teens addicted to alcohol and other drugs
  • Parents defying the law, supplying other people's children with alcohol, then proclaiming themselves "responsible" for not letting those teens drive drunk
  • Fights, accidents - occasionally date rape - because judgments and inhibitionsare clouded by alcohol or other drugs
  • Teens fearing rejection if they challenge behaviors
  • Teens having access to prescription drugs in the home
  • Parents enabling the behaviors by not challenging them


What Can You Do?

  • Make yourself aware of the Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff ordinances regarding underage drinking on private propeffy.
  • Don't be intimidated! Take the initiative and contact the adults in the home where your child is socializing. Know where your children are.
  • Greet your child when they refurn home.
  • Give your child an out. Make an agreement that they can call you, no matter what, for a ride home if they are in an uncomfortable situation. No questions asked. Discuss the situation the next day.
  • Make spending time with your children a priority.
  • Talk to your children and stress the hazards of drinking and drug use.
  • Discuss your expectations. Express your disapproval. Remember that your opinions matter to your child.
  • Educate yourself and your children about the physiological effects of alcoholon the developing adolescent brain.
  • Know how your teen uses their phone, the internet and websites such as Facebook and Twitter

Take the SAFE HOME Pledge.

Sign up to be a SAFE HOME on the "Student Directory Form'' found in your summer maililg. An asterisk will be placed by your name in the Student Directory indicating you are a participant in the SAFE HOMES program. You will automatically be renewed as a SAFE HOME every year unless you change your designation on the Student Directory Form. This is not a legally binding contract.