Stopping Teen Drunk Driving

galenrox · 12-24-07, 01:08 AM

A little known fact about Galen is that he used to be the Student Council President in his high school.

Anywho, someone one day brought forward that we needed to come up with something to deal with teen drunk driving, cause in my home town there was a fatal teen drunk driving accident on average every 4 years, and at the time it had been 5 years since the last one.
And so I came up with a plan. You set up a program with student volunteers (all the liberal resume padders) where they hang out in the school on fridays and saturdays. If you were too drunk to drive, you call them, and they'll send out 2 people, one who'll drive you home, and the other will drive your car home. I found this to be necessary because the main reason kids drove drunk was because they didn't want to get in trouble for drinking, and what are you gonna say when mom asks where your car is?

It passed the student council overwhelmingly, at which point the faculty member who was in charge of overseeing the student council took me into his office, sat me down, and said "Galen, you could organize this whole program, get all the volunteers, and even do it off school grounds, and the school will do whatever it has to to stop it. As this originated in the student council, the school will not allow itself to help kids hide their underage drinking from their parents."

To his credit, he was a really cool guy who was just being frank with me to save me the hardship of going through the whole process, but I've been out of that office for 6 years now and that still bugs the **** out of me.

So what do you think? Should schools have programs like this? What's more important, parents catching their kids drinking sometimes at the cost of huge amounts of teen drunk driving, or the school assisting kids in getting away with underage drinking so as to prevent drunk driving?

CaptainCourtesy · 12-24-07, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galenrox

A little known fact about Galen is that he used to be the Student Council President in his high school.

Anywho, someone one day brought forward that we needed to come up with something to deal with teen drunk driving, cause in my home town there was a fatal teen drunk driving accident on average every 4 years, and at the time it had been 5 years since the last one.
And so I came up with a plan. You set up a program with student volunteers (all the liberal resume padders) where they hang out in the school on fridays and saturdays. If you were too drunk to drive, you call them, and they'll send out 2 people, one who'll drive you home, and the other will drive your car home. I found this to be necessary because the main reason kids drove drunk was because they didn't want to get in trouble for drinking, and what are you gonna say when mom asks where your car is?

It passed the student council overwhelmingly, at which point the faculty member who was in charge of overseeing the student council took me into his office, sat me down, and said "Galen, you could organize this whole program, get all the volunteers, and even do it off school grounds, and the school will do whatever it has to to stop it. As this originated in the student council, the school will not allow itself to help kids hide their underage drinking from their parents."

To his credit, he was a really cool guy who was just being frank with me to save me the hardship of going through the whole process, but I've been out of that office for 6 years now and that still bugs the **** out of me.

So what do you think? Should schools have programs like this? What's more important, parents catching their kids drinking sometimes at the cost of huge amounts of teen drunk driving, or the school assisting kids in getting away with underage drinking so as to prevent drunk driving?

Everyone hold your breath. Watch this........

I agree with you 100%. I think your program was a stupendous idea. When I work with teens and their parents, the problem of drinking always comes up. You are totally correct; a major reason that kids will drink and drive is to hide that they drank. Often what I will do is sit down with the family and create a "Contract for Life". The rules are simple:

The teen agrees that if he/she is in a dangerous situation or has drank or used drugs and is unable to get home safely (cannot drive), that they will call their parent to get them, no matter what, even if they broke rules.

The parent agrees that they will pick up their kid, if he/she is in this situation, regardless of the time or circumstances, and will not yell at or punish their kid, that night, and will commend them for staying safe.

The parent and kid will discuss the situation reasonably the next day.

In bold is key. If a kid feels that they will get in terrible trouble for telling the truth, they won't and may make things worse for themselves and others.

Further, if I have a teen that tells me that they drank or used, unless it is something extraordinarily serious, I NEVER tell their parents. If I did, over every little thing, they would never tell me anything, and I would be unable to prevent horrible things from occurring. Your 'getting away with underage drinking' accomplishes the same things. It enhances safety.

If their is a choice between hiding underage drinking to prevent drunk driving or not, there is no choice. Shame the school wouldn't allow your plan to be put into action.

The one caveat to this is that I wish teens would do the same if they believe one of their friends or fellow students is overusing alcohol or drugs, rather than being afraid of being a narc. I've seen it a couple of time, but not often enough. I lost a client to heroin addiction, when many knew, but didn't say anything.

Lerxst · 12-24-07, 04:15 PM

I think it was a great idea Galen. It's like the tactic of giving your kids birth control but also teaching abstinence. You hope they will listen, but you prepare for them to be young and foolish and you do your best to protect them. The bottom line is protecting them. You set up a safety net of sorts.

Jerry · 12-24-07, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galenrox

A little known fact about Galen is that he used to be the Student Council President in his high school.

Anywho, someone one day brought forward that we needed to come up with something to deal with teen drunk driving, cause in my home town there was a fatal teen drunk driving accident on average every 4 years, and at the time it had been 5 years since the last one.
And so I came up with a plan. You set up a program with student volunteers (all the liberal resume padders) where they hang out in the school on fridays and saturdays. If you were too drunk to drive, you call them, and they'll send out 2 people, one who'll drive you home, and the other will drive your car home. I found this to be necessary because the main reason kids drove drunk was because they didn't want to get in trouble for drinking, and what are you gonna say when mom asks where your car is?

It passed the student council overwhelmingly, at which point the faculty member who was in charge of overseeing the student council took me into his office, sat me down, and said "Galen, you could organize this whole program, get all the volunteers, and even do it off school grounds, and the school will do whatever it has to to stop it. As this originated in the student council, the school will not allow itself to help kids hide their underage drinking from their parents."

To his credit, he was a really cool guy who was just being frank with me to save me the hardship of going through the whole process, but I've been out of that office for 6 years now and that still bugs the **** out of me.

So what do you think? Should schools have programs like this? What's more important, parents catching their kids drinking sometimes at the cost of huge amounts of teen drunk driving, or the school assisting kids in getting away with underage drinking so as to prevent drunk driving?

They're going to do it anyway, so you may as well teach them to drive drunk safely.

Of course, the best option is to abstain from drinking at all if you’re going to drive, but since when does anyone have the right to force others to comply with their morality? It's their body, their choice.

Parents have no right to know that their child has a drug problem, or is performing a behavior which endangers the lives of others, any more than they have a right to know if their child is going to have or has had a reasonably risky medical procedure; I mean, they're only the parents, who are they to teach and discipline their children?

Quote:

Originally Posted by galenrox

I found this to be necessary because the main reason kids drove drunk was because they didn't want to get in trouble for drinking, and what are you gonna say when mom asks where your car is?

That's assuming mom wasn't killed by a drunk driver and is alive to ask where the car is

Jerry · 12-24-07, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffMerriman

I think it was a great idea Galen. It's like the tactic of giving your kids birth control but also teaching abstinence. You hope they will listen, but you prepare for them to be young and foolish and you do your best to protect them. The bottom line is protecting them. You set up a safety net of sorts.

A better idea: when there's some high school kids getting drunk, instead of calling a few peers and asking them and the school district to be criminally liable for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor", you call the cops and find out who bought the booze. Be sure to write your Rep. and support harsh penalties for giving kids controlled substances.

***
Say this program were supported and installed, and forget for the moment that the school would now be an accomplice to a crime....you're on you shift, you get a call, you and your buddy go get some kid and you drive his car....oops, you got in an accident and are injured, maybe it's your fault, maybe it's not (maybe the other driver was drunk?): Will his car insurance cover your injury? Are you going to check that sort of thing out before getting in his car? Probably not.

I bet anyone's insurance agency will come after the school district before they would be willing to pay out, however.

Some states have laws restricting the total weekly hours and times of day that students can volunteer, so be carful of that as well.

It's a bad deal no matter how you cut it.

galenrox · 12-24-07, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry

They're going to do it anyway, so you may as well teach them to drive drunk safely.

Of course, the best option is to abstain from drinking at all if you’re going to drive, but since when does anyone have the right to force others to comply with their morality? It's their body, their choice.

Parents have no right to know that their child has a drug problem, or is performing a behavior which endangers the lives of others, any more than they have a right to know if their child is going to have or has had a reasonably risky medical procedure; I mean, they're only the parents, who are they to teach and discipline their children?

So what you're saying is you are pro-teen drunk driving.

Quote:

That's assuming mom wasn't killed by a drunk driver and is alive to ask where the car is

Odd thing, after your pro-drunk driving rant

Jerry · 12-24-07, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galenrox

So what you're saying is you are pro-teen drunk driving.

It would certanly help the over population problem....and the abortion rate, I'll bet.

Jerry · 12-24-07, 05:32 PM

It would help Global Worming aslo, what with all those cars off the roads (in the scrap yard).

Help Global Worming, give a teen a beer!

1069 · 12-24-07, 06:14 PM

My honest opinion is that teens should not drive.
I myself did not drive until I was thirty years old (granted, we did not have a car for much of my adult life).
I think preventing teenagers from driving, period, would save more lives than any other legislation we could pass.
To take the sting out, I'd be willing to lower the drinking age to, say, fifteen or sixteen. While simultaneously raising the driving age to eighteen, or, if I could get away with it, twenty-one.
I know; it's a pipe dream.

galenrox · 12-24-07, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1069

My honest opinion is that teens should not drive.
I myself did not drive until I was thirty years old (granted, we did not have a car for much of my adult life).
I think preventing teenagers from driving, period, would save more lives than any other legislation we could pass.
To take the sting out, I'd be willing to lower the drinking age to, say, fifteen or sixteen. While simultaneously raising the driving age to eighteen, or, if I could get away with it, twenty-one.
I know; it's a pipe dream.

The latter of your ideas is one my mom has always touted which I really like. Have the novelty of booze wear off, let them learn to drink responsibly, and then learn how to drive. I agree that I think we have it backwards, giving kids the right to drive and then several years later allow them to start figuring out what it means to drink responsibly.