Fountain Valley : Schools Plan Program on Alcohol Effects, Risks

The school district plans to begin a new program in February for 2,600 children in kindergarten through eighth grade on the effects and risks of alcohol and of drinking and driving.

The program, which is written and funded by the Automobile Club of Southern California, began at two of the 13 district schools last spring and received approval from Supt. Ruben L. Ingram for all schools this year.

Fern Zahlen Williams, director of health and safety for the Fountain Valley School District, said the program focuses on alcohol’s effects on behavior and the body and on reasons people drink.

The auto club provides the teacher guides, student manuals, parent pamphlets and films free.

The course outline calls for a 30-minute discussion every day for two weeks, but teachers can arrange the talks to suit the needs of their classes, Williams said.

The junior high school program, called “AL-CO-HOL,” discusses the drinking and driving situations that seventh- and eighth-graders might encounter.

Studies show that problem drinking has reached the junior high level and that the district has its share of teen-age alcoholics, Williams said.

The elementary school program, called “Starting Early,” is intended to help children make decisions for themselves in situations involving liquor, such as what to do when they are passengers in a car driven by an drunken adult.