NEW: Teacher's Guide 

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 If you see your middle-schooler with an Archie comic book in hand, don't assume he or she would be better off reading something more meaningful.

Westchester County has teamed up with Mamaroneck-based Archie comics to design and publish a custom comic book dealing with issues that confront pre-teens and teens. The comic book is being distributed through the county's Office of Drug Prevention and Stop-DWI to middle schools throughout the county. 

Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead and Chuck, among others, are in Westchester to talk about:

• underage drinking and how to resist peer pressure;
• bullying, what to do about it and how to help someone else;
• school-related stress;
• communicating with parents. 

As part of the campaign, Westchester County has also designed ads for county buses (internal and external) and a television commercial. The entire effort is funded by fines from drunk-driving arrests that, by law, must be used on public education programs.  

If you'd like more information about the program, or want to make sure your child's school gets the comic book, please contact Tom Meier, director of the DWI office at 995-4115 or by email tam7@westchestergov.com