The Blog

An Alcohol Awareness Month Message from Bryan Clay

I am really excited that we have finally entered April.  We have finally entered spring on our way to summer and the Olympics this year and it is Alcohol Awareness Month!  While I have spent tons of time on the track and in the gym, I have also been spending time with The Century Council and the Ask, Listen, Learn program.  We have visited middle schools and talked about the importance of making healthy decisions and saying no to underage drinking.  My kids are not quite teens yet, but as a father, I understand the need to be involved in your kids’ lives and this program strikes a chord with me.  When my kids are teens I want them to make healthy decisions and live up to their full potential – and underage drinking is not one of those healthy decisions.

I didn’t make all of the right decisions when I was younger and it took a lot of hard lessons for me to realize I was on the wrong path and wasn’t living at my 100% potential.  You can check out my bookRedemption when it comes out on May 1st.  In it I explain some of the struggles I went through and how I had to realize that the only way to become a successful Olympic Athlete was to make better life decisions than I was making before.

According to research, nearly one-third of eighth graders report that they have tried alcohol once in their lifetime and 15% report they have been drunk.  Parents, start talking about the dangers of underage drinking with your teens now.  You can use these tools at www.asklistenlearn.com  to show your kids how to say “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking.

bryan