School
PARENT TRAP page 129
Is this the year you
promised yourself
you would finally
learn Hebrew?
Whether you are a "total beginner," an
advanced-level Hebrew speaker or reader or
in-between, there is a place for you at the
Midrasha Center for Adult Jewish Learning.
OUR FALL SEMESTER OF DAY & EVENING
CLASSES BEGINS SEPTEMBER 7.
OPEN HOUSE FOR
PROSPECTIVE NEW STUDENTS
Thursday, September 2, 6:00-7:30 PM
Meet our teachers, take placement mini-tests, and
discuss which class is most appropriate for you. We offer
classes in Conversational Hebrew, Reading Hebrew, and
Hebrew Literature. Join us on September 2 and find out more!
We are located at 21550 West 12 Mile Road in Southfield
(just east of Lahser). For more information, including a complete
schedule of our upcoming Hebrew classes, call us at 354-1050.
• Midrasha Center for Adult Jewish Learning •
a division of the Agency for Jewish Education
rItt,1 7-Pn i?
Samantha Erin Rosen Nursery School
Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses
Yrirl
EXPERIENCE
WHAT A WARM
IN-1MATE SG--100L
CAN BE LKE
FOR YOUR CI-ED
5075 W. Maple Rd.
W. Bloomfield, MI 48322
Developmentally appropriate nursery program
for children 2 1 /2 to 5 years of age.
Two. three. four and five day sessions available.
EXTENDED 1-10LPS BEFORE AND AFTER NURSERY SCI-lOOL
Special Programming:
• Energetic Tots - "By-Myself Gass"
• Parent /Toddler Gasses
ages 24 months and up
ages 16 months and up
• Enrichment Gasses - ages 3-5
Computer/A-B-C readiness
Chaverim "around the world"
130
"Kids on the Go"
(a gym/cooking class)
for -further info.. contact Joyce Epstein. Nursery Director 851-6E3E30
Student groups discuss the dangers of drinking and driving.
ents in: "If you don't let us
drink at home, we're just
going to find someplace else
— and someone might get
hurt." Parents often cave in
the interest of safety. And
this simply compounds the
sometimes pernicious
nature of peer pressure.
Ms. Wilson can attest to
that. She returned home
after a short vacation to find
that her son graciously host-
ed a wild "soiree" in her
absence. And she'd hired a
chaperon for the weekend!
"There was a code of honor
among his friends," she
explains. "My son felt he
`owed' them since he'd been
to all their parties."
Illustrating the flipside of
teen pressure, Pam's daugh-
ter never even had birthday
parties because no one
would come if alcohol wasn't
served. "There would proba-
bly be crashers anyway,"
her daughter always rea-
soned. And, as Pam points
out, kids don't necessarily
wait for invitations for a
party. "Oftentimes word
gets around that someone's
parents are away and the
entire school just shows up."
It seem like parents can't
win.
But they can try.
Education and support
groups — for both parents
and kids — are proving
instrumental to confronting,
rather than hiding from, the
facts. Parent-to-Parent
offers a series of video work-
shops and facilitated discus-
sions. The group discusses
how drugs and alcohol
seduce kids, and they
explore how parents can
support each other in the
fight against drugs.
Likewise, Maplegrove's
Community Education
Department has a trained
volunteer corps that will
speak to any group, any-
where, at any time.
Some parents find sup-
port in their own back yard.
As Carol McMahon, a
Birmingham mother of
three and school volunteer
explains, "Because of my
job, my kids know that I
talk to a lot of people during
the course of a day." This
tidbit, she feels, keeps her
18-year-old daughter in
check. Still Ms. McMahon,
along with many experts,
believes that parents need
to be more assertive in pro-
viding kids with alternative
activities to drinking.
at
parents
The
Birmingham Groves High
School are doing just that.
They just held their fourth
senior graduation party, an
alcohol-free affair thrown by
the parents for their kids.
Each year the party has a
new theme; this past year's
theme was "On the Bayou."
Students enjoyed a hypno-
tist, karaoke, casino gam-
bling, food and prizes. Since
the 7 p.m. graduation cere-
mony is at Meadowbrook,
the 9 p.m.-5 a.m. time
schedule leaves little leeway
for boozing between events.