Welcome to UMatter

Only you can make the decision not to use tobacco, alcohol or drugs. This Web site is designed to give you the facts about tobacco, alcohol and drug use in Columbia. It will also provide you with resources to find factual information about the effects of alcohol and drugs, real stories from teenagers like yourself and answer any questions you might have.

Recent Posts:

How To Protect Our Children Against Bullying and Cyberbullying

Parents and community members are invited to hear the Megan Meier story and learn how to protect their children against bullying and cyberbullying! Tina Meier’s presentation provides an overview of the technology that students are using in today’s world. Life is much different for students today than it was even four years ago. As parents and community leaders, it is imperative that we continually educate ourselves to become better equipped to help our children. Megan Meier’s story will be shared along with the topics of bullying, bystanders, cyberbullying and sexting. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

Free Parent & Community Presentation
Tuesday, January 10, 6 p.m.
Launer Auditorium
Columbia College
1001 Rogers Street

Sponsored by Columbia Public Schools with support from Columbia College

Posted in: Bullying & Cyber Bullying, Events, Internet Safety on Tuesday 3 January, 2012 5:17 pm

Driving Distractions

High school can be so busy at times! Practices here, meetings there, not to mention graduation and college are around the corner. I’m so glad my parents bought me a car for my 16th birthday, now they don’t have to drop me off everywhere! They always call and text to check up on me. My friends love to text me while I’m driving. No big deal, right? As long as I look up every few seconds to avoid a crash, things should go well, right?

Well, I thought that was right until my friend Carson crashed his car while texting our friend Ashley. He ended up breaking his neck and totaling his car. I then decided that no text was important enough to answer while driving. Carson was pretty hurt, not to mention all of the school he missed while recovering. He ended up having to go to summer school just to catch up. But I guess he was fortunate he wasn’t hurt even worse!

According to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), 18% of fatalities in the last year reported a cell phone as a distraction. Also, a texting driver is 23 times more likely to get in a car crash than a non-texting driver. Even worse, 36% of teens say they have been in a near crash because of their distracted driving or another driver’s. Makes me nervous.

Also, it’s coming to the time of year when road conditions are snowy and icy. That means these statistics more than double when referring to texting and driving. Breaking takes twice the length to stop than when the roads are clear.

I know one thing, I for sure will not be texting and driving. Hmm, I wonder if Dad will get me a BlueTooth for Christmas? Wishful thinking, I know but hey you can’t blame a kid for trying! Although, I heard they’re considering a new federal law that would even outlaw BlueTooths while driving. Weird, huh? I guess they’re serious about this. No distractions while driving will lead to a safer road. Now, when I drive, I can concentrate and feel more at ease.

Posted in: Social Issues on Tuesday 20 December, 2011 2:53 pm

Teen sexting uncommon

Teen sexting of nude photos online or via cellphone might be far less common than people think, new research suggests.

Only 1 percent of kids ages 10 to 17 have shared images of themselves or others that involve explicit nudity, a nationally representative study found. Roughly the same number said they had shared suggestive but less-graphic photos; 7 percent said they had received either type of picture.

More

Posted in: Internet Safety, Social Issues on Tuesday 6 December, 2011 11:40 am