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.