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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a national survey of 10,904 high school students in grades 9-12. Following are the results of that survey, conducted in 1995. Teen Lifetime Alcohol Use.

OVERALL: 80.4% of students had at least one drink of alcohol during their lifetime.

RACE: White (81.7%) and Hispanic (82.9%) students were significantly more likely than black students (73.7%) to have had at least one drink of alcohol during their lifetime.

AGE: Students in grades 11 (83.2%) and 12 (85.5%) were significantly more likely than students in grade 9 (72.4%) to have had at least one drink of alcohol during their lifetime.

Teen Current Alcohol Use

OVERALL: 51.6% of students had had at least one drink of alcohol during the 30 days preceding the survey (i.e., current alcohol use).

RACE: White (54.1%) and Hispanic (54.7%) students were significantly more likely than black students (42.0%) to report current alcohol use.

AGE: Students in grades 11 (53.7%) and 12 (56.5%) were significantly more likely than students in grade 9 (45.6%) to report current alcohol use.

Teen Episodic Heavy Drinking

OVERALL: 32.6% of students had had five or more drinks of alcohol on at least one occasion during the 30 days preceding the survey (i.e., episodic heavy drinking).

GENDER: Males (36.2%) were significantly more likely than females (28.6%) to report episodic heavy drinking.

RACE: Whites (35.6%) and Hispanics (37.7%) were significantly more likely than blacks (18.8%) to report episodic heavy drinking.

AGE: The older the student, the more significantly likely to report episodic heavy drinking. Breakdown by age was: Grade 9 (24.5%); Grade 10 (30.3%); Grade 11 (34.9%); Grade 12 (39.0%).

During prom time, there is an increased incidence of drunk driving accidents and deaths among teenagers. In 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that while the number of alcohol-related fatalities involving young people (ages 15 to 20) decreased over the past few years, there are still too many youth dying in alcohol-related highway crashes each year. Drunk driving is a significant problem throughout the country; a drunk driver kills a person every 22 minutes.

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Who will be chaperoning the party?

Will the chaperones be physically present where the party is taking place?

Who will be attending? Will older teens or college kids be present?

What activities are planned?

What is their policy regarding alcohol or drug use?

When is the party scheduled to start and end?

Will guests be allowed to come and go from the party?

What are the boundaries for the party? Are bedrooms and other secluded areas off limits?

Anything else that concerns you.