Parent Alert August 2023

By rbean | May 28, 2025 |

Impaired Driving and How to Prevent It

Impaired driving is responsible for 32 deaths every day in the United States, which is one death every 45 minutes. There are one million arrests made in the United States each year for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, but these arrests are a tiny amount of the instances of impaired driving. A 2020 survey found an estimated 30 million people 16 or older drove under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs, and data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System found an estimated 127 million instances of alcohol-impaired driving in 2020 alone. The majority of the 30 million people who reported driving under the influence were driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana.

Alcohol and marijuana effect the brain in different ways, but their impact on driving is similar. Both substances slow reaction times, impact judgment and decision making, and impair coordination. These impairments are increased when the substances are used together. A recent study from Columbia University found that two in five drivers who reported using alcohol and cannabis in the past year drove under the influence of one or both of these substances. The risks of impaired driving are well known, but there is still an astonishing number of people who drive under the influence. This begs the question, how do we prevent people from driving under the influence?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a list of strategies to prevent impaired driving for use by individuals, communities, and states. Here are few of the strategies they suggest:

Plan Ahead – Have a designated driver or make plans for getting a ride home.
Lower Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Limits – Most states currently have a limit of 0.08. Other countries have a limit of 0.05, and Utah saw a decrease in alcohol-related accidents when they adopted the same limit.
Alcohol Use Disorder Assessment and Treatment Programs – A good way to avoid a problem is to treat the cause. These programs can help people receive help before committing an offense, and can also help offenders by giving them tools to avoid committing the offense again.
Enforce Current Impaired Driving Laws

For more information about impaired driving and how to prevent it, please visit the links below.

Resources

CDC: Driving-Health Effects-Marijuana
CDC: Drinking and Driving-VitalSigns
CDC: Impaired Driving-Get the Facts
CDC: What Works-Strategies to Reduce or Prevent Alcohol-Impaired Driving
Columbia: Over 40 Percent of Drivers with Past-Year Alcohol and Cannabis Use Report DUI

Why Homework is Important

As a parent, it can be difficult to keep track of everything going on with your child’s education. One of the best ways to stay involved with your child’s education is to pay attention to their homework. Teachers use homework to help students develop knowledge and skills that will help them pass the class, and prepare them for the next school year. There are a variety of different ways homework helps students including:

Improving thinking
Learning how to work independently
Preparing for class the next day
Enhancing problem-solving skills
Developing time management skills
Improving concentration and confidence in the classroom

The importance of homework is clear, but sometimes it is hard to find ways to keep homework interesting. Many parents struggle to keep their child engaged during homework time, and many students have difficulty grasping subject matter because they are not interested in it. If you can make homework interesting for your child, then they are more likely to succeed in school and develop important life skills. Here are some ways you can help with homework and make it interesting:

Create a homework space
Develop a plan and schedule to ensure assignments are done in a timely manner
Try different learning applications or websites
Encourage hard work and set goals for achievements
Take an interest in what they are learning, and ask questions to verify that they are retaining knowledge

These tips are just a few of the many ways you can support your child in their studies. Work with your child to find out what support works best for them. Check out the links below for more resources and ideas on how you can make homework easier.

Resources

12 Reasons Why Homework is Important for Students
21 Simple Kids Study Room Ideas for Your Home
Orrville Public Library
Ten Helpful and Free Resources for Homework Help
Wayne County Public Library

Join Wayne County Coalitions and OneEighty in Remembering Those who Have Lost Their Lives to Addiction

Overdose Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day that began in 2001. Overdose is the leading cause of death for people ages 18 to 45 in America, and there were 110,000 overdose deaths in America in 2022. This day gives communities an opportunity to remember those who lost their lives to overdose and bring attention to stigma and other issues surrounding substance use disorders.
Wayne County Coalitions are partnering with OneEighty and the Wayne County Health Department to provide resources and information across Wayne County. These information tables will be at these locations:

OneEighty 9 AM – 5 PM
Orrville Goodwill 4 PM – 6 PM
Orrville YMCA 4 PM – 6 PM
Wayne County Public Library
- Creston Branch 4 PM – 6 PM
- Rittman Branch 4 PM – 6 PM
- Shreve Branch 4 PM – 6 PM
- Wooster Branch 12 PM – 6 PM

Please contact Kristina Hoskins, OneEighty Community Coalitions Manager, at hoskinsk@one-eighty.org for more information.

Thank you for being a vital part of our community!

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