PARIS – April was Alcohol Awareness Month and the students who visit the Hillside Cafe have been able to receive some training in how to avoid drinking with their friends through a program called “BARN.”

The Hillside Cafe is a program under the Child Health Center’s Youth Development Program and is located at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. It is open after school every Monday through Thursday and offers a place where students can meet with their friends, sit and do homework, play games or have a snack before their afternoon activities.

BARN, which is an acronym for Body Awareness Resource Network, is a four-disk educational program on alcohol, tobacco and stress management. The interactive software offers students an opportunity to make decisions, ask questions, change their minds, role-play test ideas and compare results when faced with choices such as joining friends in the use of alcohol or drugs.

Heidi Ricci, cafe manager, and other members of the Youth Development staff, were recently trained on the software and felt that the cafe would be a good place to introduce the program.

Ricci said, “About 80 young people visit the Hillside Cafe daily. We have a great opportunity to talk with the kids in groups as well as one-on-one. Introducing alcohol, tobacco and stress awareness in this setting seemed natural, as this is a place where the kids come to unwind and talk about what they are going to do when they get home or on the weekend. So, why not get them to think about making better choices when they are on their own?”

Role-playing is one of the facets used by the software to make the point that there are ways to say no to alcohol and tobacco. The CD is available in the cafe on the new laptop computer. Ricci said, “I don’t have it here every day because then it gets old. When I do have it here someone is almost always using it.”

Alcohol use has a strong correlation with teen and young adult deaths from motor vehicle crashes, homicides and suicides. National surveys done within the last 10 years have shown that 25 percent of students in grades six to 12 admitted to weekly alcohol use.

The Child Health Center is an organization working to improve the health and well being of children and families throughout Oxford, Androscoggin, northern Cumberland and southern Franklin counties. For information regarding the center call 743-7035 or e-mail [email protected].