Adolescents and Drinking

I sincerely feel that healthy behavior in adolescents have been going downhill for quite some time. I know that this decline has started way before the 1990’s but the area that I am most concerned about has grown since the mid ‘90’s; the increases in media adolescents are exposed to. I remember reading a post on Facebook from a friend saying her younger brother who just turned 16 said “I drive extremely well in Grand Theft Auto while drunk, how hard can it be in real life?”. This is a brand new driver who thinks that because he has become skilled at driving drunk on a video game he’ll be just as skilled driving drunk in a real car. I’m not sure about everyone else, but this kids’ lack of awareness scares me. There are so many ways to educate kids about the effects of drunk driving, but has this kid been exposed to them? I talked to my friend about what her younger brother has been educated on in regards to drinking and driving, and she said none.

One of the ways my high school educated us about drunk driving is by putting on a program called “Fatal Choices, Shattered Dreams”. At the start of the morning classes and 15 minute intervals, since that is how often someone in this country dies in a drunk driving accident, a crash sounded and then a heartbeat sound came across the intercom followed by the flat line sound. The grim reaper, police and ambulance attendants enter a classroom, they touch a student and wheel them out on a gurney covered by a sheet. Their obituary is read to the class. The student changes into a black shirt, has their face painted white and becomes the living dead. No interaction with anyone for the rest of the day. Parents of this student get a call at work, saying their child has been involved in a drunk driving accident and has died. The parents know their child is involved in this activity and that it is not real, but the shock of getting this call still hurts. Each of the “dead” students has a cross with their name on it in the front yard of the school. I was able to be one of the students involved in this activity, and I will never forget how it affected me. Programs like these involve parents, students, educators, and the community. There was a “drunk driving” scene acted out in the parking lot, and it’s covered by the local news and radio stations to educate more than just the students watching and involved.

Programs like these help to educate kids about how life is after high school. I really think this is a good step in how to get adolescents to be on track with how to drink responsibly. This is one area in health that I am really passionate about and was really excited to share.